El Salvador Defies IMF Deal, Adds 7 Bitcoin to National Reserve

El Salvador added 7 Bitcoin (BTC) to its national holdings last week, according to data from the country’s Bitcoin Office. With the latest purchase, El Salvador now holds 6,173 BTC, worth over $637 million at a market price of $104,220 per coin. The country continues to buy Bitcoin even after signing a $1.4 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December 2024. The deal included conditions that restricted the use of public funds to purchase Bitcoin. President Nayib Bukele has maintained the country’s buying strategy, despite repeated requests from the IMF to halt further Bitcoin purchases. IMF Agreement Includes Bitcoin Limits The IMF agreement required El Salvador to remove Bitcoin’s status as legal tender and make its use optional. In January 2025, El Salvador’s Congress voted 55–2 to repeal the Bitcoin legal tender law. The country also agreed to privatize the Chivo Wallet, a state-funded digital wallet used for Bitcoin transactions. The agreement included a clause that prohibited the use of government funds for Bitcoin acquisitions. However, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office has continued to report regular BTC purchases. It has not confirmed whether the funds used are public or private. In March 2025, the IMF repeated its request for El Salvador to stop buying Bitcoin. No response confirming compliance has been issued by the government. President Bukele Rejects IMF Demands President Nayib Bukele publicly rejected the IMF’s request to end Bitcoin purchases. On March 4, he posted on X: El Salvador remains one of the only countries actively buying Bitcoin on the open market. The Bitcoin Office regularly shares updates on the country’s BTC reserve, but it does not clarify whether public funds are involved. The government has not made any official changes to the acquisition schedule. The BTC reserve continues to grow, and no announcements have indicated a shift in strategy following the IMF agreement.