El Salvador Buying 21 Bitcoins Today To Mark '21:21:21' Occasion

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is buying Bitcoin BTC/USD to mark the twenty-first day of the twenty-first year of the twenty-first century.

What Happened: The Salvadoran leader said the country is purchasing 21 BTC to mark the occasion.

At press time, BTC traded 4.2% higher at $49,280.60 over 24 hours. This means, El Salvador’s purchase would be worth about $1.03 million.

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

Why It Matters: El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in June this year.

Earlier in the month, El Salvador purchased 150 BTC after the apex cryptocurrency tumbled in value. At the beginning of the month, the country held 1,270 BTC worth nearly $62.6 million.

Bukele’s push to make BTC a currency of everyday transactions has met resistance from the local population as well as some in the cryptocurrency community.

In October, Ethereum ETH/USD co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke out against the policies of Bukele that make it mandatory for merchants and businesses to accept BTC.

This month, MicroStrategy Incorporated MSTR CEO Michael Saylor said Bitcoin is an asset rather than a currency. 

“You don’t want to pay for your coffee with your bitcoin, you want to pay for your coffee with a currency,” said Saylor.

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