• Alejandra Guajardo represented El Salvador in the Miss Universe 2022 pageant wearing a currency-themed costume featuring Bitcoin.
• The costume symbolized the country’s history of currency, from cocoa beans to the colón, and its adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.
• Guajardo’s costume was met with applause from the audience as the announcer noted that “you don’t need a sash to walk around dressed as cash.”

Alejandra Guajardo made history at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant when she represented El Salvador in the preliminary competition by wearing a captivating costume featuring Bitcoin. As she gracefully walked across the stage with a giant colón — one of the country’s accepted currencies until 2001 — strapped to her back and adorned with cocoa beans, the audience clapped in awe of her bold fashion statement. In her right hand, Guajardo held a staff topped with a large physical Bitcoin, symbolizing El Salvador’s history of currency and its recent adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021.

At the pageant, the announcer noted Guajardo’s costume with enthusiasm and remarked, “This look represents El Salvador’s history of currency. For a long time, cocoa was used, and then the colón, until it was replaced by the U.S. dollar. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to use Bitcoin as legal tender. You don’t need a sash to walk around dressed as cash.”

Guajardo shared the momentous occasion on her Instagram account, tagging Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and expressing her pride in representing her country. The post quickly went viral and it was clear that the audience at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant was in awe of Guajardo’s eye-catching costume. With her unique expression of El Salvador’s history of currency, Guajardo made a bold statement and brought awareness to the country’s recent decision to embrace Bitcoin as legal tender.