Bitcoin scarcity will cause ‘gigantic price increases’, says Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele

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Bitcoin had a tough month, dropping from over $47,000 to under $34,000 in the first three weeks of the year.

However, as the cryptocurrency begins to show signs of recovery, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele tweeted a confident Bitcoin prediction on Monday, January 31, as the country called for Bitcoin to be removed as legal tender.

Rising prices fueled by scarcity

Bukele claimed that Bitcoin would see a “gigantic price increase” due to the scarcity of digital currency – Bitcoin has a relatively limited supply of only 21 million digital coins. There are “over 50 million millionaires” in the world, Bukele explained, which means there isn’t enough Bitcoin to get them all in on the action.

There are over 50 million millionaires in the world.

Imagine when each of them decides they should own at least ONE #Bitcoin

But there will only ever be 21 million #Bitcoin

Not enough for even half of them.

A gigantic price increase is only a matter of time.

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) January 31, 2022

“Not enough for even half of them. A gigantic price increase is only a matter of time,” Bukele wrote. Bitcoin recently surpassed 90% of total exploitable supply, which was capped at a total of 21 million by its elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, in part to reduce inflation that could result from unlimited supply.

The IMF ‘urged’ El Salvador to ditch bitcoin

In September last year, the Bitcoin network crashed shortly after El Salvador made the digital coin legal tender in the country. This month, reports surfaced that the country may have lost $10 million as Bitcoin crashed worldwide. The International Monetary Fund’s board has since “urged” the nation to drop bitcoin as legal tender, citing concerns about the cryptocurrency’s “high price volatility”, financial stability and consumer protection.

The IMF report came shortly after Bitcoin lost around $10,000 between January 20-25. According to CoinTelegraph, Bitcoin is currently trading at $37,159, down from its all-time high of around $68,000 on November 9.

Disclaimer: Some members of the IE team, including the editors of this article, have personally invested in a number of cryptocurrencies and stock markets. However, their views on private investment have no impact on editorial content.

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