On October 1, the IMF Executive Board did two things: sent El Salvador money and put its Bitcoin account on “probation.”
The details: The Executive Board completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s $1.4 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), approving an immediate disbursement of about $138 million (101.96 million Special Drawing Rights). In the same document, the IMF waived one of El Salvador’s unmet performance criteria—and that criterion was specifically related to the “ceiling on Bitcoin accumulation.” The official wording was “strong corrective actions and a renewed commitment.” Put simply: the breach happened, El Salvador showed it was sorry, and this time the IMF let it slide.
The waiver didn’t come for free. The agreement is explicit: apart from documented donations, El Salvador must not make any more government-led Bitcoin purchases, and the public sector’s remaining exposure of $BTC should be “fully unwound.” As part of this, majority ownership and control of the state-run Chivo wallet have been transferred to a private operator, with the government retaining only a minority stake and responsibility for safeguarding customer assets. IMF staff also made a point of explaining that the Bitcoin acquired after the first review came from private donations, not public funds.
Here’s a detail not to miss: The EFF approved in February 2025 originally set a “zero ceiling” on voluntary Bitcoin accumulation by the public sector, except in cases such as law-enforcement seizures. It also required taxes to be paid only in U.S. dollars and made it voluntary for the private sector to accept Bitcoin. In other words, the waiver covered the “process,” not the “direction.”
My take: This isn’t El Salvador “giving up Bitcoin”; it’s repricing the cost of its sovereign experiment. The liquidity it needs comes with conditions, and the price is zero public-sector exposure. The real signal isn’t the $138 million, but the words “fully unwound”—from now on, its holdings look more like a private donation pool than a national reserve.
Here’s the question: If one day it builds its holdings back up through private donations, will the IMF’s zero ceiling still apply? Do you see this as a compromise or a tactical retreat?
#IMFDisbursesFundsToElSalvadorAndWaivesExcessBTCPurchases
The details: The Executive Board completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s $1.4 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), approving an immediate disbursement of about $138 million (101.96 million Special Drawing Rights). In the same document, the IMF waived one of El Salvador’s unmet performance criteria—and that criterion was specifically related to the “ceiling on Bitcoin accumulation.” The official wording was “strong corrective actions and a renewed commitment.” Put simply: the breach happened, El Salvador showed it was sorry, and this time the IMF let it slide.
The waiver didn’t come for free. The agreement is explicit: apart from documented donations, El Salvador must not make any more government-led Bitcoin purchases, and the public sector’s remaining exposure of $BTC should be “fully unwound.” As part of this, majority ownership and control of the state-run Chivo wallet have been transferred to a private operator, with the government retaining only a minority stake and responsibility for safeguarding customer assets. IMF staff also made a point of explaining that the Bitcoin acquired after the first review came from private donations, not public funds.
Here’s a detail not to miss: The EFF approved in February 2025 originally set a “zero ceiling” on voluntary Bitcoin accumulation by the public sector, except in cases such as law-enforcement seizures. It also required taxes to be paid only in U.S. dollars and made it voluntary for the private sector to accept Bitcoin. In other words, the waiver covered the “process,” not the “direction.”
My take: This isn’t El Salvador “giving up Bitcoin”; it’s repricing the cost of its sovereign experiment. The liquidity it needs comes with conditions, and the price is zero public-sector exposure. The real signal isn’t the $138 million, but the words “fully unwound”—from now on, its holdings look more like a private donation pool than a national reserve.
Here’s the question: If one day it builds its holdings back up through private donations, will the IMF’s zero ceiling still apply? Do you see this as a compromise or a tactical retreat?
#IMFDisbursesFundsToElSalvadorAndWaivesExcessBTCPurchases