El Salvador Presses Ahead With Bitcoin Purchases Despite IMF Pressure

Key Takeaways

• El Salvador’s Economy Minister says the country is still buying Bitcoin, despite the IMF’s pressure to stop.
• The statement comes just days after the IMF claimed El Salvador was complying with its loan agreement.
• As part of the $1.4 billion loan deal, El Salvador had agreed to scale back several Bitcoin-related policies.

El Salvador isn’t backing down from Bitcoin (BTC), no matter what the IMF says.

Amid global scrutiny and a $1.4 billion loan deal tied to dialing back its crypto ambitions, the country appears to be sticking to its strategy.

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claims El Salvador is playing by the rules, fresh comments from a top official and some telling blockchain data suggest otherwise.

El Salvador Says It’s Still Buying Bitcoin

Economy Minister María Luisa Hayem confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg that the government continues to buy Bitcoin, standing by President Nayib Bukele’s long-term strategy to hold the asset as a national reserve.

“There’s a commitment of President Bukele to keep accumulating assets,” Hayem said. “Bitcoin keeps being an important project.”

Her statement contradicts the IMF’s claims made just days earlier.

In a recent press conference, the IMF stated that El Salvador was complying with its conditions, including a supposed halt on further Bitcoin accumulation.

IMF Claims Compliance, But On-Chain Data Tells a Different Story

As part of the loan agreement signed earlier this year, El Salvador agreed to scale back some of its more aggressive Bitcoin initiatives.

That includes toning down the state-run Bitcoin wallet Chivo, ending the mandate for merchants to accept Bitcoin, and reducing BTC purchases using public funds.

However, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, the country has continued its “one Bitcoin per day” policy despite the IMF’s warnings.

This discrepancy has sparked speculation that El Salvador may be walking a fine line, technically remaining within the terms of the deal while continuing to buy BTC under different conditions or timelines.

Did El Salvador Find a Loophole?

Online observers quickly pointed out the vague language used by the IMF.

A user named Lina Seiche highlighted the IMF’s careful phrasing , which didn’t actually state that Bitcoin purchases had stopped, only that El Salvador was “complying with their commitment of non-accumulation.”

“There’s no order from the IMF for El Salvador to stop buying Bitcoin today,” Seiche noted. “They’re talking about a future benchmark that isn’t even due yet.”

In other words, El Salvador might still be within the letter of the agreement, even if it does not follow the spirit.

Bukele Doubles Down

Earlier this year, Bukele rebutted rumors that a June deadline loomed for halting Bitcoin purchases. He made it clear that the government’s strategy wasn’t changing.

He said that El Salvador continued buying Bitcoin even when the country was isolated on the global stage and much of the Bitcoin community turned away, and that this commitment would continue unchanged into the future.