El Salvador buys 410Bitcoin for $1.3 billion, the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender

El Salvadoran, the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender, bought 410Bitcoin on January 22 as prices fell below $37,000, a price not seen since July.

President Nayib Bukele, an ardent Bitcoins maximalist, celebrated his country's really cheap purchase on Twitter, declaring that the nation had not missed the buying opportunity.

The recent drop in Bitcoins prices has been a boon for the Central American country, which has strategically acquired more than 1,800Bitcoin during dips in the price ofBitcoin in the last four months.

The country chose to adoptBitcoin amid a floundering economy, high inflation, dollarization and poor spending power in September.

Some of the Bitcoin in their Chivo wallets have gone missing, despite the fact that citizens in El Salvador have expressed confusion and doubt aboutBitcoin. One Central American University survey shows that 9 out of 10 Salvadorans don't understand what the coin is, and eight out of 10 saying they have no confidence inBitcoin.

El Salvadoran is plagued by distressed debt, with its debt now valued at 36 cents instead of the 75 cents it was last year. The country is still asking the International Monetary Fund for a $1.3 billion loan.

Since the switch to Bitcoins, the country's sovereign credit has worsened fourfold: El Salvador now has the most distressed debt in the world, and it is because of the Bitcoin folly, according to Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. The markets think Bukele has gone mad, and he has.