El Salvador Faces Bitcoin Reserve Doubts While Scientists Plan Mars Payments
El Salvador’s bitcoin strategy is once again under the microscope, with researchers suggesting the government may be “recycling” or shuffling coins rather than making fresh purchases. On-chain data tracked by Sani, founder of Time Chain Index, shows bitcoin moving between Binance and wallets linked to El Salvador, including a Sept. 7 transfer of 21 BTC that coincided with President Nayib Bukele’s announcement of a new purchase for Bitcoin Day. The pattern has raised questions about whether the government is simply shifting assets across wallets to align with public statements. The IMF previously alleged that El Salvador was consolidating bitcoin into government wallets, a claim later confirmed by its communications director. Despite this, the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) has not issued clarification and continues to describe the transactions as acquisitions. While El Salvador faces scrutiny over its bitcoin reserves, researchers Jose Puente and Carlos Puente are looking far beyond Earth with their proposal for Proof-of-Transit Timestamping (PoTT). The system is designed to enable cryptocurrency transfers between Earth and Mars in as little as three minutes, using ground antennas, satellites, lunar relays, and timestamping at each step, much like passport stamps at border crossings. Serving as a confirmation layer for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, PoTT would rely on NASA’s optical communication channels and Starlink satellites. Once stable interplanetary communication is established, it could make bitcoin the first currency to operate between planets. The Puente researchers propose satellite relays to manage communication blackouts, and say demo tests could already be simulated. Space-based bitcoin experiments have been underway for years: Blockstream launched a satellite network in 2018, Spacechain executed a bitcoin transaction from the ISS in 2020, and astronaut Chris Hadfield later received his first bitcoin from orbit. Today, Blue Origin has begun accepting digital assets for its suborbital flights, while Elon Musk has long floated the idea of cryptocurrencies as the currency of Mars.