Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

How El Salvador Lost All Bitcoins on FTX

Validated Project

It’s been a year since El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele adopted a Bitcoin standard in his country. Since then, the value of Bitcoin has crashed by -76%. Yesterday, the second biggest crypto exchange FTX went insolvent. Many people are speculating that El Salvador is holding their Bitcoins on FTX, which would mean that all their Bitcoins are gone. This news has sent shockwaves throughout the cryptocurrency community…

El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele made headlines last year when he announced that his country would be making Bitcoin legal tender. Bukele invested $375 million into Bitcoin with his country’s funds. The move was seen as a vote of confidence in the cryptocurrency, and the value of Bitcoin surged in the aftermath.

However, since then, the value of Bitcoin has crashed by -76% mainly due to macroeconomic factors. The situation took a turn for the worse yesterday when FTX, the second biggest crypto exchange, went bust. President Bukele immediately commented the situation with “we demand the immediate extradition of Sam Bankman-Fried (CEO of FTX) and Sam Trabucco (Former CEO Alameda Research), Washington most respond within 48 hours”.

El Salvador is also said to be in a massive debt crisis and on the brink of default. That’s why their government is turning to China, who offered El Salvador to buy all its foreign debt to prevent default.

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • Vitalik: I don’t agree with the way the US government efficiency department pays too much attention to the government’s handling of small spending mistakes

    Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, responded to the content of the US government's small expenditure mistakes released by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), stating that he does not agree with the department's handling method. The examples cited only account for a small portion of the total expenditure. If the government's optimization goal is to avoid mistakes that look bad on Twitter, it will miss many valuable opportunities, and those large-scale projects that actually waste more will continue to exist because they look decent. For small-scale public funds, a venture capital (VC)-like approach should be taken, accepting a large number of possible mistakes, as its goal is to ensure that opportunities that can bring 1,000 times return can be seized. Prudence should be focused on large-scale transactions.

  • Former US CFTC Chairman Predicts SEC Will Drop Lawsuit Against Ripple

    former chairman of the CFTC boldly predicted that the SEC will drop the lawsuit against Ripple, which suggests that regulatory changes may trigger a significant increase in XRP.

  • Analyst: Bitcoin's recent surge may have given investors a false sense of security

    George Milling-Stanley, Chief Gold Strategist at Dow Jones Global Investment Management, believes that the recent surge in Bitcoin may give investors a false sense of security. Milling-Stanley stated, "Simply put, Bitcoin is an investment seeking returns, which suggests that investors are flocking to Bitcoin for capital gains, not because they see the value or use of Bitcoin." The launch of options based on spot Bitcoin ETFs last week may be related to this, as options allow investors to bet on the price volatility of Bitcoin with less cash instead of buying Bitcoin itself.

  • UK court dismisses Craig Wright's appeal against COPA

    On November 29th, according to BitMEX Research, the UK Court of Appeals has dismissed Craig Steven Wright's (CSW) appeal against the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), ruling that he lacked any substantive basis. In the case, CSW also complained that the court had adopted evidence from @lopp (James Lopp), but @lopp did not appear as a witness, which the court found to be unfounded. CSW's attempt to prove his claim as the author of the Bitcoin white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto, has once again been thwarted.

  • Binance will delist Gifto (GFT) spot trading pairs

     Binance has announced that deposits for Gifto (GFT) have been suspended as of November 29, 2024 due to potential security issues with the GFT smart contract. Binance may reopen GFT deposits if they deem it safe to do so, but will not issue any further announcements. Binance has decided to delist and cease trading for all Gifto (GFT) spot trading pairs on December 3, 2024 at 08:00 (UTC).

  • Japan's Financial Services Agency warns 5 unregistered overseas cryptocurrency exchanges

    On November 29th, according to CoinPost, the Japanese Financial Services Agency issued warning letters to five unregistered overseas cryptocurrency exchanges. These exchanges include KuCoin, bitcastle LLC, Bybit Fintech Limited, MEXC Global, and Bitget Limited.

  • Stablecoin issuance protocol usdx.money completes $45 million in financing

    On November 29th, stablecoin issuance protocol usdx.money completed a $45 million financing round, bringing the project's valuation to $275 million. NGC, BAI Capital, Generative Ventures, UOB Venture Management, and others participated in the funding, with some investors contributing through warrants. Existing supporters of the project include Dragonfly Capital and Jeneration Capital.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin officially signs digital currency tax law

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law regulating the taxation of digital currencies. According to the law, digital currencies are recognized as property. This also applies to currencies used for foreign trade payments within the experimental legal framework (EPR) in the field of digital innovation. Mining and sales of digital currencies are exempt from value-added tax. Operators of mining infrastructure must report to the tax authorities issuing cryptocurrencies for using their services. Failure to submit such information on time may result in a fine of 40,000 rubles. In terms of personal income tax, digital currencies obtained through mining will be classified as physical income (usually used when goods or services are paid for instead of currency). The value of the income currency will be determined based on market quotes. Such income will be subject to progressive taxation, taking into account tax deductions for mining costs. At the same time, the acquisition, sale or other circulation of digital currencies will be subject to two-stage personal income tax rates (13% for income up to 2.4 million rubles, and 15% for income exceeding this amount). They will be included in the same tax base as securities, bank deposits, and other sources of transaction income. As for corporate income tax, digital currency mining will be subject to the standard tax rate (25% from 2025 onwards).

  • Taiwan forces cryptocurrency providers to register for anti-money laundering

    after authorities imposed fines on two cryptocurrency exchanges for related violations, Taiwan, China has advanced new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for cryptocurrency businesses. On November 27, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced that the upcoming registration requirements for anti-money laundering for cryptocurrency exchanges would be postponed from the previous deadline of January 1, 2025 to November 30. According to previous notices, virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that have not registered with the government may face up to two years imprisonment or a maximum fine of NT$5 million (US$155,900).