El Salvador has not used public funds to buy Bitcoin since June 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund, which said the government submitted documentation showing that subsequent additions to its Bitcoin holdings came from private donations.
The disclosure was included in an IMF staff statement announcing a preliminary agreement with Salvadoran authorities on the combined second and third reviews of the country’s 40-month Extended Fund Facility. Once the IMF Executive Board approves the reviews and El Salvador completes agreed prior actions, the country would receive roughly $140 million in additional financing.
The finding addresses one of the most closely watched conditions in El Salvador’s IMF-backed economic program: limiting the state’s exposure to Bitcoin price movements while preserving the country’s ability to maintain its Bitcoin-related infrastructure and legal framework. The IMF said it expects no further Bitcoin accumulation beyond the documented private donations.
Imf seeks separation between public finances and bitcoin exposure
The IMF had already sought to restrain El Salvador’s use of public resources for Bitcoin purchases. In May 2025, the fund said it would work with the government to ensure the public sector’s Bitcoin holdings did not increase under the program.
Soon after that statement, El Salvador’s administration reported an addition of 8 BTC, which brought reported holdings to 6,190.18 BTC, according to the country’s Bitcoin Office. The announcement prompted scrutiny over whether the purchase conflicted with the IMF’s conditions.
The latest IMF statement provides the clearest account yet of how the government and the fund are treating later additions. Rather than identifying them as purchases made with treasury resources, the IMF said documentation submitted by El Salvador showed that Bitcoin accumulated after June 2025 reflected private donations.
The fund did not disclose the size of those donations or provide an updated total for Bitcoin held across wallets connected to the Salvadoran public sector. That leaves unresolved how much of the country’s reported Bitcoin balance can be linked to donated assets and how those assets are treated in public financial accounts.
El Salvador had separately disclosed a 1,090 BTC addition in November, valued at about $100 million at the time. Officials described it as the country’s largest single-day Bitcoin acquisition, lifting reported holdings to 7,474 BTC. The IMF’s latest language suggests the origin and accounting treatment of such additions are central to its assessment of compliance with the lending program.
Wallet transparency remains a condition of the program
The IMF said El Salvador is working to improve transparency over Bitcoin holdings spread across multiple wallets. The effort includes stronger governance, controls and risk-management practices for crypto assets held by public-sector entities.
That work is consequential for a government whose Bitcoin policy has often been communicated through wallet updates and public announcements rather than detailed, consolidated financial reporting. A clearer accounting framework would help distinguish assets held by the treasury, assets held by state-controlled companies, customer assets under custody and Bitcoin received from private parties.
The IMF’s approach does not require El Salvador to abandon its Bitcoin laws or dismantle all state-linked crypto activity. Instead, the program seeks to prevent Bitcoin market risk from expanding onto the government balance sheet or complicating the country’s debt position.
That distinction gives the Salvadoran government room to retain a role in the country’s digital-asset ecosystem, but with narrower financial exposure. It also places more emphasis on record-keeping and custody arrangements, especially where public entities interact with Bitcoin wallets or hold assets on behalf of users.
Chivo moves toward private operation
The IMF also reported that public participation in Chivo, El Salvador’s state-backed e-wallet, has been “substantially unwound.”
Majority ownership and operational control of Chivo have been transferred to a private operator, the fund said. The state retains a minority stake and continues to serve as custodian for customer assets.
The restructuring marks a material change from Chivo’s original role as a government-operated gateway for Bitcoin payments after the country adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021. Chivo had been supported by public infrastructure and was closely identified with President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin policy.
Moving management to a private operator could reduce the direct operational burden on the state, though the government’s retained custody role means public institutions remain connected to the platform’s safeguarding of customer funds. The IMF’s wording indicates that the program’s objective is not simply to privatize Chivo, but to reduce the state’s financial and operational footprint in the service.
Board approval will determine the next disbursement
The staff-level agreement remains subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, and El Salvador must complete the prior actions tied to the review. The proposed $140 million disbursement would form part of the country’s larger Extended Fund Facility arrangement.
For El Salvador, the agreement offers progress toward unlocking external financing while preserving parts of its Bitcoin strategy. For the IMF, the documented halt in public-fund purchases since June 2025 provides a basis for continuing the program without requiring the government to reverse every Bitcoin-related policy.
The next phase will turn on whether the government completes the transparency, governance and Chivo restructuring measures outlined by IMF staff. Those steps will determine how far El Salvador can separate its public finances from Bitcoin volatility while continuing to present itself as a center for Bitcoin-oriented business and technology.
For deeper insight into sovereign crypto moves, explore whether Bitcoin strategic reserves could reshape future national finances.
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