On Thursday, President Nayib Bukele announced that El Salvador plans to transfer a significant portion of its bitcoin holdings to an offline device.

This device will then be securely stored within a physical vault located within the country’s territory in Central America.

“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,” Bukele, who last month was re-elected to a second term as president, said in a post on X. “It’s not much, but it’s honest work.”

As per Bukele’s social media update on Thursday, El Salvador’s bitcoin holdings stand close to $407 million. Though the precise extent of the holdings remains uncertain, a recent surge in bitcoin’s value has renewed interest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency, known for its volatility.

Bitcoin reached a new peak on Thursday, hitting a record high of $73,800, Reuters reported.

El Salvador made headlines in September 2021 by becoming the first nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, a move that drew significant criticism, particularly from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been in talks regarding a substantial loan for the economically challenged country.

Bukele has also outlined plans for a tax-free crypto haven, powered by geothermal energy from a volcano, termed “Bitcoin City.”

Despite these ambitious plans, as Bukele prepares for his second presidential term, the actualization of Bitcoin City is yet to commence with no groundbreaking initiated.

Written by B.C. Begley