El Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele hinted at boosting the country’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) holdings to $1 billion on Wednesday, causing a spike in odds on prediction markets.
Bukele Eyeing $1 Billion In BTC?
Bukele responded to a Kalshi market prediction that El Salvador’s Bitcoin hoard would reach $1 billion before December. At the time, the odds were at 25%.
“I could do the funniest thing right now,” Bukele said in a cryptic post, sparking curiosity that the Bitcoin-friendly nation would accelerate its purchases.
Following his comment, the odds on Kalshi increased to 41%. As of this writing, the odds were at 36%, up 11 percentage points in the previous 24 hours.
A similar bet was created on cryptocurrency-based Polymarket, with users pricing in a 42% chance that the holdings would reach $1 billion by year-end.
Note that Kalshi is a federally-regulated betting platform available to U.S. users, while Polygon (CRYPTO: POL)-based Polymarket is blocked for access.
See Also: Nayib Bukele-Led El Salvador Is Now Seeing Hundreds Of Students Graduate With Bitcoin Diplomas
El Salvador’s Bold Bet Despite IMF Opposition
El Salvador’s Bitcoin stockpile has risen to 6,282.18 BTC, worth nearly $700.42 million at prevailing prices.
There are 126 days remaining in 2025. Assuming El Salvador maintains its “1 Bitcoin a day” policy, its holdings will grow to 6,408.18 BTC by the end of the year, worth $714 million at current rates. However, if Bitcoin reaches $150,000 apiece, the stockpile will be worth approximately $961 million.
This still pales in comparison to Strategy’s stash of $70 billion, the U.S. government’s $22 billion, China’s $21.24 billion and the UK’s $6.84 billion, according to CoinGecko. In fact, it would be smaller than even Bhutan, which had a hoard worth more $1.2 billion, but would exceed the holdings of the United Arab Emirates.
Notably, the International Monetary Fund had asked El Salvador to halt public sector Bitcoin purchases as part of a $1.4 billion funding deal earlier this year. While the country made the acceptance of Bitcoin voluntary rather than mandatory, it hasn’t stopped its purchases.
Bukele admitted last year that Bitcoin’s uptake in the country hasn’t been a “resounding success“, stating that it’s up to the public to embrace it.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $111,450, up 0.26% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo Courtesy: Joey Sussman on Shutterstock.com
Read Next:
