Bitcoin News Today: El Salvador Halts Bitcoin Purchases After IMF Loan Agreement

El Salvador has not purchased any Bitcoin since signing a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December 2024. This revelation contradicts the regular claims made by El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, which has been asserting that the country is purchasing one Bitcoin per day. The IMF report highlights that the Chivo Bitcoin wallet, used by El Salvador, does not adjust its Bitcoin reserves to reflect changes in clients’ Bitcoin deposits. This discrepancy has led to the appearance that the public sector is accumulating Bitcoin, when in reality, it is not.

The IMF report includes a letter of intent signed by El Salvador’s central bank president, Douglas Pablo Rodríguez Fuentes, and minister of finance, Jerson Rogelio Posada Molina. The letter confirms that the stock of Bitcoins held by the public sector remains unchanged and that steps are being taken to mitigate fiscal risks by reducing the public sector’s role in the Chivo wallet and reframing the Bitcoin project. This letter is a significant document as it outlines the commitments made by El Salvador under the loan agreement with the IMF.

In December 2024, El Salvador signed a $1.4 billion loan deal with the IMF, which included an agreement to scale back its involvement in Bitcoin. In January 2025, the country’s legislature revised the Bitcoin laws, making the acceptance of Bitcoin as legal tender voluntary and agreeing to stop accumulating Bitcoin using taxpayer money. Despite these changes, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office continued to claim that the government was steadily accumulating Bitcoin, which contradicted the terms of the IMF loan agreement.

The IMF sent a notice to El Salvador in March, asking the country to stop accumulating Bitcoin under the terms of the loan agreement. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded defiantly, stating that the country would continue to accumulate Bitcoin daily. Bukele’s stance on Bitcoin has been a point of contention, as El Salvador is one of the leading countries to embrace a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. The IMF report has sent shockwaves through the Bitcoin community due to El Salvador’s position and Bukele’s outspoken stance on the digital currency.