El Salvador gets approval for $138 million, which can’t be counted as new BTC buy-side demand
This IMF release is for financing, not a government budget to buy crypto. For those who focus on BTC-country buy-side flows, I’ll first verify the intended use of funds—not interpret a “waiver” as permission for freely adding BTC.
On October 1, the IMF completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s financing program, allowing the immediate disbursement of about $138 million; on October 4, Cointelegraph reported in follow-up. What’s confirmed here is that the disbursement was approved—not that I’ve verified the money has arrived, and definitely not a weekend announcement of new BTC purchases.
The key is what conditions come with the waiver. The IMF says that while some of the benchmarks— including BTC accumulation—were not met, the plan was still approved to proceed based on corrective measures and newly made commitments. The same announcement also requires reducing the state’s participation in Bitcoin-related activities and states that, aside from recorded donations, it does not expect further accumulation.
My understanding is that this decision lets the financing continue, without canceling the original constraints in one stroke. Still, keep the other side in mind: receiving donations can increase holdings, but it doesn’t prove the government spent new money in the market. Linking “approved financing,” “wallet BTC increases,” and “government purchases BTC” into one thing would overestimate demand along this path.
In the coming week, I’ll review the IMF’s subsequent documents and the government’s funding disclosures to separate purchases, donations, and internal transfers. Only verifiable actual purchase spending and the sources of the funds will change my assessment of a country’s net new buy-side demand; if it’s only donations or balance changes, the judgment won’t change. If official policy conditions are loosened in the future, it must also be validated separately from real purchases.
Correction/addendum: The NEAR draft yesterday omitted the restoration statement. Crypto.news reported on October 1 that the cofounder said the vulnerability was fixed and services were restored, with some chains excluded. This isn’t a new restoration today; per-chain availability and whether funds have arrived still need to be checked separately.
#比特币 #萨尔瓦多 #IMF
This IMF release is for financing, not a government budget to buy crypto. For those who focus on BTC-country buy-side flows, I’ll first verify the intended use of funds—not interpret a “waiver” as permission for freely adding BTC.
On October 1, the IMF completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s financing program, allowing the immediate disbursement of about $138 million; on October 4, Cointelegraph reported in follow-up. What’s confirmed here is that the disbursement was approved—not that I’ve verified the money has arrived, and definitely not a weekend announcement of new BTC purchases.
The key is what conditions come with the waiver. The IMF says that while some of the benchmarks— including BTC accumulation—were not met, the plan was still approved to proceed based on corrective measures and newly made commitments. The same announcement also requires reducing the state’s participation in Bitcoin-related activities and states that, aside from recorded donations, it does not expect further accumulation.
My understanding is that this decision lets the financing continue, without canceling the original constraints in one stroke. Still, keep the other side in mind: receiving donations can increase holdings, but it doesn’t prove the government spent new money in the market. Linking “approved financing,” “wallet BTC increases,” and “government purchases BTC” into one thing would overestimate demand along this path.
In the coming week, I’ll review the IMF’s subsequent documents and the government’s funding disclosures to separate purchases, donations, and internal transfers. Only verifiable actual purchase spending and the sources of the funds will change my assessment of a country’s net new buy-side demand; if it’s only donations or balance changes, the judgment won’t change. If official policy conditions are loosened in the future, it must also be validated separately from real purchases.
Correction/addendum: The NEAR draft yesterday omitted the restoration statement. Crypto.news reported on October 1 that the cofounder said the vulnerability was fixed and services were restored, with some chains excluded. This isn’t a new restoration today; per-chain availability and whether funds have arrived still need to be checked separately.
#比特币 #萨尔瓦多 #IMF