a sign reads bitcoin accepted here outside a coffee shop where the cryptocurrency is accepted as a payment method in san salvador el salvador may 15 2022 reutersjose cabezas london june 14 reuters  el salvadors bet on bitcoin was slashed on tuesday by half as the more than 100 million in the countrys publicly disclosed purchases dropped more than 50 in value the 10 purchases announced by president nayib bukele via twitter have a market value of just over 51 million with the biggest single trade  420 coins at more than 59000 per coin  down almost 63 bukele has said on twitter at least four times that el salvador has bought a dip a term used by traders to mean they took advantage of a price dislocation that resets for a quick gain one of the dips bukele said el salvador bought was 420 coins for more than 59000 each in late october a total of almost 25 million that is now worth 95 million the government didnt respond to a request for comment on the value of its bitcoin portfolio the amounts both the investment and the loss are only a fraction of the 365 billion that the central america nation held in foreign exchange reserves as of last month according to credit rating agency dbrs morningstar the country has 765 billion in marketable debt outstanding according to refinitiv data an 800 million payment is due in january on a bond that is trading at 735 cents on the dollar and yielding 676 bondholders are no wiser on how bond payments will be made siobhan morden head of latin america fixed income strategy at amherst pierpont securities said in a note on tuesday the monthly fiscal data do not yet show an obvious trend shift with the pace of spending less than revenue growth but not yet enough to markedly reduce the structural fiscal deficit reporting by rodrigo campos in london and nelson rentería in san salvador