El Salvador stops buying Bitcoin? IMF review report reveals the truth

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) review report released on July 15 stated that El Salvador stopped purchasing Bitcoin in February 2025 after signing a protocol with the IMF. According to the protocol, El Salvador must cease the purchase of Bitcoin and revoke its status as legal tender in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan. This news contradicts the El Salvador government's previous frequent announcements of new Bitcoin purchases, and concerns about the accuracy of El Salvador's Bitcoin reserves had already attracted attention as early as 2023.

Important Information Revealed in IMF Report Despite reaching an agreement with the IMF, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele continues to emphasize the country's new Bitcoin purchasing actions, but the first EFF review report released in July revealed contradictory information to these statements. In the letter accompanying the report, Salvadoran Central Bank President Douglas Pablo Rodríguez Fuentes and Finance Minister Jerson Rogelio Posada Molina stated that "the Bitcoin holdings of the public sector remain unchanged" and mentioned slight irregularities during March regarding daily Bitcoin accumulation.

In addition, footnote nine of the report mentions: "The increase in Bitcoin holdings in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Fund reflects the integration of Bitcoin among various government wallets." This means that El Salvador has ceased Bitcoin purchases as of February 2025, in accordance with the agreement reached with the IMF. The IMF review report also pointed out that the El Salvadoran economy is showing positive trends, recommending an immediate payment of SDR 86.16 million (approximately 118 million USD). The overall satisfaction of the fund's board indicates that El Salvador has indeed abandoned Bitcoin, no longer viewing it as legal tender or as a strategic reserve worth accumulating, instead opting for dollar loans from the IMF.

El Salvador Bitcoin purchases after IMF protocol The agreement reached between the IMF and El Salvador requires El Salvador to not only revoke Bitcoin's status as legal tender but also to stop the purchase of Bitcoin (according to the IMF, continued purchases of Bitcoin pose economic risks). However, despite the stipulations of the agreement, El Salvador continues to purchase Bitcoin daily.

In March, the IMF reminded President Bukele that he must stop purchasing Bitcoin to comply with the protocol requirements, but Bukele clearly rejected the IMF's request and stated that the accumulation of Bitcoin would not stop. El Salvador's Minister of Economy Maria Luisa Hayem confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg in April that Bukele had not stopped purchasing Bitcoin and referred to Bitcoin as "an important project."

Follow of the crypto community and journalists The IMF review report suggests that El Salvador has not purchased all the Bitcoins it claims to have bought. The issue of transparency regarding El Salvador's Bitcoin purchases has long been a focus of concern for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Cryptocurrency activist Pledditor publicly questioned in November 2023, pointing out inconsistencies in the digital existence of El Salvador's Bitcoin reserves. In December 2023, a BBC article also mentioned that the estimates of Bitcoin in El Salvador had no actual basis, apart from President Bukele's tweets and screenshots from the "Nayib Tracker" website, whose founder had not commented on this at the time.

However, on July 20, Elias Zerrouq, the founder of Nayib Tracker, expressed surprise on the X platform, pointing out that President Bukele used incorrect data and the media did not follow up on this. Since then, the X account that published the Bitcoin purchase announcement has started using different websites, but questions remain. On July 20, five days after the IMF and the El Salvadoran government officially announced that the country had not purchased Bitcoin since signing the protocol, the Bitcoin office released an announcement about El Salvador's purchase of Bitcoin once again. As of July 22, neither Bukele nor other high-ranking officials had responded to this.

Conclusion The IMF review report reveals that El Salvador continues to purchase Bitcoin even after reaching an agreement with the IMF, which significantly contradicts previous official statements. The issue of transparency still troubles the crypto community, and whether the El Salvador government can adhere to the requirements of the agreement will determine the direction of the country's future crypto policies.