SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR – JANUARY 14: President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele delivers a speech … [+]
The agreement between the International Monetary Fund and El Salvador for a $1.4 billion loan opened a new chapter regarding El Salvador bitcoin accumulation. The IMF recently published a staff report preventing further bitcoin acquisition by the government. However, President Nayib Bukele clarified that their BTC accumulation strategy is not stopping.
Bukele reinforced this idea by sharing a post from the Bitcoin Office, announcing the addition of another bitcoin to the national bitcoin reserve on March 4, and he added his own statement: “‘This all stops in April.’ ‘This all stops in June.’ ‘This all stops in December.’ No, it’s not stopping.” His response directly contradicts the IMF’s report and the media coverage surrounding the prevention of further accumulation.
The IMF report also highlights the need for greater transparency regarding the Bitcoin Office and its role in the country’s bitcoin strategy. According to the document, the office must disclose which wallets are linked to its operations.
In the same post, Bukele also asserted that the accumulation will continue, no matter what, as it happened in the past. “If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us and most ‘bitcoiners’ abandoned us, it won’t stop now, and it won’t stop in the future,” Bukele posted on X. While it remains unclear which bitcoiners he referred to, the message is direct: El Salvador is not backing down.
IMF Agreement and El Salvador Bitcoin Accumulation
Besides the Bitcoin Law, in 2021, El Salvador launched its bitcoin accumulation strategy. This accumulation started on September 6, 2021, with the acquisition of 400 BTC. On November 21, 2022, Bukele announced they’d buy one bitcoin daily. Right now, the public Bitcoin address attributed to this stockpile holds 6,101 BTC.
A letter of intent to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, included in the report, confirms that El Salvador’s authorities have agreed to stop acquiring BTC. “Importantly, as per agreement with the IMF, we will no longer accumulate new Bitcoins in our portfolio,” reads the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, signed by Central Bank President Douglas Pablo Rodríguez Fuentes and Finance Minister Jerson Rogelio Posada Molina.
IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair Nigel Clarke reinforced this commitment: “Going forward, program commitments will confine government engagement in Bitcoin-related economic activities, as well as government transactions in and purchases of Bitcoin.”
The IMF’s stance is firm. The report explicitly states that the public sector can no longer accumulate BTC voluntarily, covering both purchasing and mining. The only exception applies to BTC obtained through forfeiture, seizure, or law enforcement actions.
Despite the IMF’s position, Bukele’s statements suggest that El Salvador Bitcoin Accumulation remains an active strategy, creating uncertainty about how the policy will be implemented moving forward and if the conditions of the loan will be met.
