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IMF confirms El Salvador's bitcoin reserve growth funded by private donations
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IMF confirms El Salvador's bitcoin reserve growth funded by private donations

Sep 4, 2026

The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with El Salvador, potentially unlocking $140 million in funding. The agreement was secured after the IMF accepted documentation showing that El Salvador's sovereign Bitcoin reserve growth since June 2025 was funded entirely by private donations rather than public money. However, the IMF has not publicly disclosed the identities of these donors, raising transparency concerns. Additionally, El Salvador has privatized its state-backed Chivo wallet, transferring majority control to an unnamed private operator.

IMF loan program compliance verification

  • ▪The International Monetary Fund's compliance condition for El Salvador's loan program includes a continuous quantitative performance criterion with a zero ceiling on voluntary Bitcoin accumulation by the public sector.
  • ▪The International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement with El Salvador on September 3, 2026, on the combined second and third reviews of its 40-month Extended Fund Facility.
  • ▪The staff-level agreement between the International Monetary Fund and El Salvador could unlock approximately $140 million in additional disbursements, pending approval by the IMF Executive Board.

Private Bitcoin donation funding claims

  • ▪The International Monetary Fund stated that it does not expect El Salvador to accumulate additional Bitcoin beyond the documented private donations already reported.
  • ▪The International Monetary Fund did not publicly disclose the identities of the private donors or the specific amounts they contributed to El Salvador's Bitcoin holdings.
  • ▪The International Monetary Fund stated that El Salvador provided documentation showing all Bitcoin added to its official holdings since June 27, 2025, was funded by private donations rather than public money.

El Salvador Bitcoin reserve growth

  • ▪El Salvador's sovereign Bitcoin holdings grew from 5,968 BTC in December 2024 to approximately 7,764 BTC by early September 2026.
  • ▪A 500-coin gap exists between El Salvador's official government reporting of 7,764 BTC and blockchain forensics firm Arkham Intelligence's tracking of 7,264 BTC in government-associated addresses.
  • ▪El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele denied transferring the country's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, valued at approximately $618 million, to a private operator, stating only Chivo wallet shares were transferred.

Chivo wallet privatization

  • ▪The government of El Salvador retained a minority stake in the Chivo crypto wallet and maintained custodial responsibility over customer assets.
  • ▪El Salvador transferred majority ownership and operational control of the state-backed Chivo crypto wallet to an unidentified private operator.
  • ▪The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador amended its Bitcoin Law in February 2025 to remove the legal tender mandate and make private-sector acceptance voluntary.

IMF fiscal transparency concerns

  • ▪The International Monetary Fund's decision to validate El Salvador's Bitcoin compliance using unreleased private documentation creates a structural tension with its own Fiscal Transparency Code.
  • ▪The International Monetary Fund's acceptance of El Salvador's private-donations explanation allows sovereign reserves to grow without triggering the program's quantitative performance criterion.

Debatable claims

  • ▪Privatizing the Chivo wallet marks the failure of El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment
  • ▪Sovereign states should not accept private donations to fund national cryptocurrency reserves
  • ▪The IMF should reject El Salvador's undisclosed Bitcoin donor documentation

4 sources

Techtimes
IMF Clears El Salvador Bitcoin: Private Donors Never Named or Quantified
View source article
Blockonomi
El Salvador Bitcoin Purchases Came From Private Donations, IMF Confirms
View source article
Coindesk
IMF confirms El Salvador’s bitcoin growth was funded by private donations, not public money
View source article
Dw
Bukele niega transferencia de reservas de bitcoin
View source article

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Related entities

El Salvador

People Involved

Nayib Bukele

Topics

BitcoinStrategic Bitcoin reservesBitcoin regulationBitcoin adoption