The disclosure was contained in an IMF statement issued after staff reached agreement with Salvadoran authorities on the combined second and third reviews of the country’s $1.4 billion Extended Fund Facility. The Fund said documentation supplied by the government verified that bitcoin accumulation since the first programme review reflected private donations.
The clarification is significant because El Salvador had agreed under its IMF programme not to voluntarily accumulate additional bitcoin using public funds. The restriction formed part of a wider package designed to reduce fiscal and financial risks linked to the cryptocurrency and to improve transparency over assets held or controlled by the public sector.
IMF staff said no further bitcoin accumulation beyond the documented donations was expected. The Fund and the authorities also agreed on steps to modernise El Salvador’s legal, regulatory and supervisory framework for digital assets, while strengthening governance and risk management for public-sector crypto holdings.
The latest review agreement remains subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board and completion of agreed prior actions. If approved, it would make about $140 million available to El Salvador under the programme, adding to funds already disbursed since the arrangement was authorised in February 2025.
El Salvador’s bitcoin policy has been closely scrutinised since the government entered the IMF arrangement. Programme conditions required the authorities to limit public-sector exposure, publish information on wallets controlled by state entities and wind down public participation in parts of the cryptocurrency infrastructure.
Under the original agreement, the government committed not to voluntarily buy or mine additional bitcoin. IMF definitions distinguished such accumulation from bitcoin obtained through seizures, forfeitures or other forms of possession arising from law-enforcement action.
During the first programme review in June 2025, Salvadoran authorities told the IMF they had not voluntarily accumulated bitcoin since the arrangement was approved. At that stage, the Fund said public-sector bitcoin holdings had remained broadly unchanged, although temporary movements linked to customer deposits in the Chivo wallet had caused minor technical breaches of programme limits.
The government was also required to provide signed statements identifying hot and cold wallet addresses and the amounts of bitcoin owned or controlled by public-sector entities. Those disclosure requirements were intended to give IMF staff a clearer view of the state’s exposure and distinguish government assets from customer funds held within the Chivo system.
El Salvador also moved to reduce the formal role of bitcoin in the economy as part of the IMF-backed reforms. Changes to the country’s Bitcoin Law removed the obligation for private businesses to accept the cryptocurrency and required taxes to be paid in US dollars. The government’s obligation to provide automatic bitcoin-dollar convertibility was also removed.
The IMF has continued to argue that limiting state involvement is necessary to contain fiscal, consumer-protection and financial-stability risks. Its earlier assessments found that bitcoin adoption had delivered limited gains in financial inclusion while exposing the public sector to governance and market risks.
The Fund’s September review nevertheless described broader programme performance as strong. It said fiscal and reserve targets had been met and pointed to progress on governance, transparency and financial-sector reforms, while stressing that continued implementation would be important for macroeconomic stability.
The new documentation on bitcoin donations appears to resolve a key question surrounding additions to official holdings after June 2025. While the quantity of donated bitcoin was not specified in the IMF statement, the Fund said the evidence was sufficient to establish that the accumulation did not involve budgetary resources or other public money.
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