El Salvador Bitcoin Reserve Grows Even as IMF Deal Forces Major Amendments

• El Salvador holds 60,68 BTC worth $595.65 million, with unrealized profits standing at $167.26 million.
• The IMF gave numerous cautions to El Salvador after it made BTC legal tender in 2021; the IMF has since admitted the concerns never materialized.
• The U.S., Brazil, Germany, and other major economies are mulling the creation of Strategic Bitcoin Reserves.

After yielding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and scaling back its pro-Bitcoin (BTC) laws in order to receive a $1.4 billion loan, El Salvador’s pioneering Bitcoin ambitions were thought dead in the water.

However, it appears that the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender under the law is far from done, and it has stacked even more BTC than usual in this past month.

Back on Bitcoin

As per a Feb. 4, 2025 announcement from El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), the nation is still going big with its “one Bitcoin a day” investment pledge.

Now, El Salvador commands 6,068 BTC worth $592.43 million . Though it ranks under several other nations with sizeable wallets, El Salvador is the only one on the list that is publicly and actively pursuing Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Last month, El Salvador stacked 60 BTC, 20 of which were bought in the past week. With the aim to acquire 1 BTC a day, this figure is way above the target.

In December 2024, Stacy Herbert, director at the ONBTC, confirmed that, despite the IMF concerns and policy adjustments, they would continue stacking and suggested this may come at “an accelerated pace” as well as at a “discount.”

The supposed discount is believed to come from one or more of the U.S. government’s customary BTC auctions, where it sells Bitcoins seized from criminal or other proceedings to bidders, often at below-market prices.

IMF Deal

Under the agreement with the IMF, El Salvador was required to discontinue BTC tax settlements, and laws requiring businesses to accept crypto as payment were removed.

Furthermore, the government was required to phase out its role in the state-operated Chivo wallet.

The IMF believes that Bitcoin’s volatility poses a threat to the nation’s economy, and therefore, such changes would be necessary to secure the $1.4 billion loan needed to shore up its floundering finances.

Regardless, El Salvador is undeterred.

However, with the U.S. and others now exploring the prospects of establishing their own Bitcoin strategic reserves, the IMF may have a harder time convincing larger nations, and therefore smaller ones, that BTC is a risky asset for governments to hold.