El Salvador to Use BTC Profits to Build Pet Hospital

El Salvador, the country that recognized Bitcoin as legal tender, plans to use a part of the $4 million it made in BTC profits to build a modern veterinary hospital in the local capital of San Salvador, the President of the country, Nayib Buekele, said on Twitter on 9 October.

According to Buekele’s announcement, the $150 million BTC fund El Salvador created at the end of August — which is meant to facilitate the conversions of BTC to U.S. dollars in the country — has amassed $4 million in profits from Bitcoin’s price gain. Part of the profits will now be used to construct a modern-looking pet hospital in the city of San Salvador. Buekele tweeted on Sunday:

The new veterinary hospital is planned to have four operating rooms, four emergency clinics, 19 offices, a rehabilitation area, as well as a laboratory, classrooms, an auditorium, and co-working space. The aims is to be able to perform up to 64 surgeries, respond to 128 emergencies, and tend to 400 appointments each day.

The president of the country also explained on Twitter how the fund works, and how it had a surplus. According to Buekele, while the trust’s balance sheet includes both dollars and BTC, the amount of funds in the trust is established in dollars by law. The state company that operates the trust, Chivo — which is the same name as the wallet app the citizens of El Salvador use for digital payments and remittance transactions — can get rid of the $4 million surplus without affecting the quantity of BTC in the trust. Buekele said:

“By the way, we’re not selling any BTC, but using the USD part of the trust, since the BTC part is now worth more than when the trust was established.”