IMF: El Salvador Bought No Bitcoin With Public Funds Since Last Loan Review

The International Monetary Fund said Thursday that El Salvador has added no new bitcoin to its holdings using public money since its last review of the country’s loan program. Two independent outlets, Bitcoin Magazine and The Block, reported the finding the same day, both citing the IMF release directly. The fund said the country instead relied on private donations, backed by documentation supplied by the Salvadoran government.

What’s confirmed by both reports: no state funds went into bitcoin purchases since the fund’s prior review; the bitcoin that did arrive came from private donors; and the IMF says it received documentation to back that claim. What’s single-sourced: The Block’s headline names the review date as June 2025, a detail Bitcoin Magazine did not repeat, describing the cutoff only as the “first review.” The two descriptions are consistent but not identically sourced, so the exact month should be read as reported by one outlet rather than independently verified twice.

What the IMF Statement Actually Says

The IMF’s language is specific. “Documentation has been provided verifying that Bitcoin accumulation since the first review reflects private donations and that no public resources were used,” the release states. It adds that the fund and El Salvador reached “understandings” on steps to modernize the country’s legal and regulatory framework for digital assets and to tighten governance around public-sector crypto holdings.

Crucially, the fund also says it does not expect further growth in the government’s bitcoin position beyond what has already been documented as donated. That is a forward-looking commitment, not just a description of past behavior.

Why the Funding Source Was in Question

El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender in 2021. President Nayib Bukele said in 2022 that the government would buy one bitcoin per day, a pledge that generated years of speculation. It was never clear at the time where the funds came from, or whether the purchases were happening at the stated pace at all.

Bukele posted a brief message on X on September 3, 2026, reading “Gradually, then suddenly…” alongside a link, timed close to the IMF release. Neither report tied specific figures in the tweet to the IMF’s findings, so it functions here as context rather than confirmation of any number.

The Wallet Wind-Down

Both reports note that public participation in the government’s Chivo bitcoin wallet has been largely wound down, with majority ownership and operational control shifting away from broad public use. Neither source detailed a specific user count or a percentage decline for the wallet, so those figures should not be treated as available data points.

For holders tracking sovereign bitcoin demand, the practical read is narrow. This IMF language addresses the loan program’s compliance conditions, not the total size of El Salvador’s existing bitcoin reserve. The fund’s statement rules out new public-money accumulation going forward, distinct from the stock of bitcoin the country already holds.

Neither Bitcoin Magazine nor The Block published the exact size of the donated bitcoin total or a dollar figure tied to the private contributions, so that number remains outside what these two reports establish.

Sources

• bitcoinmagazine.com
• theblock.co