Benzinga - by Mehab Qureshi, Benzinga Staff Writer.
The Central American country of El Salvador said it strengthened the security of its Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) investments.
What Happened: This week, the nation transferred $400 million in Bitcoin to a safer storage option known as a cold wallet.
President Nayib Bukele took to the social platform X to share the news and described the move as establishing “our first #Bitcoin piggy bank.”
A cold wallet is a form of cryptocurrency storage that is not connected to the internet, which reduces the risk of hacking. It is typically a physical device, like a USB drive or a specialized hardware wallet, that safely stores the user’s private keys offline. Cold wallets are considered one of the most secure methods for holding cryptocurrencies long-term.
Bukele shared a photo showing the balance of the cold wallet, which contained 5,689.68 BTC. Based on the value of Bitcoin on Thursday, this amount translated to a total sum of $411 million.
Earlier, it was thought that El Salvador’s Bitcoin investment was smaller, with estimates showing they held under 3,000 BTC, valued at around $205 million.
We've decided to transfer a big chunk of our #Bitcoin to a cold wallet, and store that cold wallet in a physical vault within our national territory.You can call it our first #Bitcoin piggy bank