El Salvador Keeps Buying Bitcoin Despite IMF Strings

A $1.4 billion loan package signed in December 2024 asked El Salvador to halt publicly funded Bitcoin purchases.

Official data show the government added seven BTC last week, lifting national reserves to 6,173 BTC.

At current prices that stash is worth about $637 million, a sizable bet for a $30 billion economy.

IMF Deal Tries but Fails to Slow Accumulation

A $1.4 billion loan package signed in December 2024 asked El Salvador to halt publicly funded Bitcoin purchases.

Lawmakers even repealed compulsory merchant acceptance to placate the fund.

Yet President Nayib Bukele insists the daily “one Bitcoin” program will not stop.

Bukele’s Defiant Rationale

“If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us … it won’t stop now,” he posted on X.

Officials frame the buys as a hedge against dollar inflation and a magnet for tech investment.

Blueprint for Other Nations?

Crypto executives say the strategy could inspire resource-rich but dollar-poor countries seeking alternative reserves.

So far none has followed publicly, though Paraguay and Argentina have debated similar experiments.

Risks on the Horizon

El Salvador’s Bitcoin wallet remains heavily underwater on coins bought above $50,000 in 2021.

A deep market correction could swell unrealized losses and stoke political backlash.

Long-Term Vision

Bukele argues the nation is dollar-indebted anyway, so diversifying into a scarce digital asset offers asymmetric upside.

Skeptics retort that macro adoption, not just price, will ultimately judge the gamble.