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, having added 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.
Still, the country has continued buying one BTC per day, a strategy introduced by President Nayib Bukele in 2022.
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 said in an April 26 news 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.”
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.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-buys-240-bitcoin-imf-deal
Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.
Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.