Pro-Bitcoin El Salvador President Bukele Is Buying The Dip In Gold Too, Just In Case

This is the second time El Salvador has bought gold since 1990, following an IMF-mandated acquisition of nearly 14,000 troy ounces in 2025.

• El Salvador President Nayib Bukele disclosed a $50 million gold purchase by the country’s Central Reserve Bank as prices fell to around $5,100.
• The bank acquired 9,298 troy ounces of gold on international markets to expand national reserves.
• The move comes as Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since November, dropping to around $81,000.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, one of Bitcoin’s (BTC) biggest champions, is hedging his bets by buying up gold as the bullion’s price corrected on Thursday, and Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to November lows.

In a post on X, Bukele revealed that the Central Reserve Bank bought 9,298 troy ounces of gold, worth roughly $50 million, on international markets. The central bank stated that the move is part of the government’s plan to expand its gold holdings alongside its Bitcoin stash.

This is the second time El Salvador has bought gold since 1990. Its first purchase was in September 2025, when it bought 13,999 troy ounces after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mandated that the country diversify its funds.

Bukele ‘Buys The Dip’

Gold’s price fell 3.4% over the past day to around $5,100 per troy ounce, after notching a record high of over over $5,500 in the previous session. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) edged 0.22% higher in overnight trade with retail sentiment on Stocktwits trending in ‘extremely bullish’ territory alongside ‘extremely high’ levels of chatter. Platform data shows message volumes have jumped nearly 1,000% over the past month as the precious metal rallied to higher highs.

The Best Of Both Worlds

While Bitcoin is Bukele’s marquee bet, the gold purchase shows he’s keeping a foot in more conventional territory “just in case” markets get shaky. El Salvador’s leader made headlines in 2021 by making Bitcoin legal tender and subsequently buying the cryptocurrency during every dip.

Bukele has long framed Bitcoin as superior to gold. In 2024, he joked about mining El Salvador’s $3 trillion gold reserves to “dilute that thing like there’s no tomorrow,” mocking gold’s scarcity.

Still On Track With Bitcoin Buys

Data from Arkham indicate that El Salvador continues to add to its Bitcoin reserves. The country added one bitcoin to its holdings on Thursday, in line with Bukele's pledge for his government to buy one BTC per day.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin stash now stands at around 7,547 BTC, valued at around $620 million. Bitcoin’s price plunged more than 6% in the last 24 hours to around $82,700, recovering from an intra-day low of $81,000 on Thursday, the lowest point since November. 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency continued to trend in ‘extremely bearish’ territory even as chatter rose to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

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