El Salvador, the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, has continued buying the cryptocurrency despite a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that included provisions discouraging further accumulation.
The government’s treasury wallet currently holds 6,209 Bitcoin (BTC) after acquiring a total of 240 BTC since Dec. 19, 2024, after the IMF deal was announced, according to data from El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office.
In December, El Salvador struck a deal with the IMF for a $1.4 billion loan, which required the government to drop Bitcoin’s status as a legal tender and stop its public BTC accumulation.
However, the country has continued buying one BTC per day, a strategy first announced by President Nayib Bukele in 2022.
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When asked about the purchases, Rodrigo Valdes, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, said the country remains technically compliant. “El Salvador continues to comply with their commitment of non-accumulation of Bitcoin by the overall fiscal sector,” Valdes stated during an April 26 press briefing.
Others point to the IMF deal’s “flexible” interpretation as the key to El Salvador’s continued acquisitions.
“The IMF’s ‘flexible interpretation’ suggests purchases may involve non-public sector entities or reclassified assets, maintaining technical compliance,” Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain adviser, told Cointelegraph, adding that this “alternative approach allows El Salvador to retain its Bitcoin-friendly image while securing critical IMF funding.”
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Crypto remittances decline in 2025
While El Salvador’s Bitcoin accumulation appears unaffected, cryptocurrency remittance payments to the country fell sharply in 2025.
Cryptocurrency transfers to Salvadoran wallets fell by 44.5% during the first quarter of the year from the same period last year, according to data from the Central Reserve Bank shared by Diario, a local media news outlet.
Crypto remittance payments fell to $16 million in the first quarter of 2025, representing 0.52% of total remittances received in the country, a $12.8 million decline from the $28.3 million received in the first quarter of 2024, when crypto payments accounted for 1.08% of total remittances.
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