El Salvador's Bitcoin story has taken another interesting turn.
The country's official Bitcoin balance has continued to grow even though its agreement with the IMF placed limits on new public sector Bitcoin purchases.
So how did the balance keep increasing?
The IMF has now explained that the Bitcoin added to official holdings since June 2025 came from private donations.
According to the IMF there were no new public purchases behind this increase. It also said that no further buying beyond the documented donations is expected.
This explains the growing balance.
El Salvador's official tracker showed around 7764 BTC at the time of the report.
The balance also received a major increase of around 1000 BTC in November. After that the country continued receiving around one Bitcoin per day.
The interesting part is that the IMF did not disclose who the donors were or exactly how much Bitcoin each person or group provided.
That leaves some questions open.
But the main point is clear.
The increase in Bitcoin holdings was not coming from the government simply buying more BTC with public money.
This matters because Bitcoin has been one of the biggest points of discussion between El Salvador and the IMF.
The country agreed to several changes as part of its $1.4 billion financing programme.
One of those changes was making Bitcoin acceptance voluntary for private businesses.
The government also agreed to limit its involvement in Bitcoin purchases.
Another major change involved the Chivo wallet.
Most of its operations and ownership control were moved to a private operator while the government kept responsibility for customer asset custody.
This shows how different El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy looks today compared with 2021.
Back then the country made Bitcoin legal tender and wanted it to become part of everyday payments.
But actual usage did not grow as much as expected.
Over time the focus shifted more toward holding Bitcoin rather than using it for daily purchases.
And now the country continues to hold a large Bitcoin balance while the increase is being explained through private donations.
I think this is an important distinction.
Seeing El Salvador's Bitcoin balance rise does not automatically mean the government has restarted aggressive buying.
The source of those coins matters.
For Bitcoin supporters this may still be a positive story because it shows that private groups are willing to contribute BTC to the country's official holdings.
But from an investment point of view the bigger story is how El Salvador's role with Bitcoin has changed.
The country started with the idea of everyday Bitcoin use.
Today it looks much more like a long term Bitcoin holding strategy.
The IMF clarification removes some confusion around why the balance keeps rising.
But it also shows that El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment is still evolving.