IMF confirms El Salvador's recent Bitcoin acquisitions came from private donations, not public funds, as the country restructures its Chivo wallet governance.
Regulation & Gov ·
El Salvador has restructured its Chivo e-wallet to reduce government involvement in cryptocurrency holdings. The International Monetary Fund has confirmed that Bitcoin acquired by the country since the initial program review came from private donations exclusively, with no public budget allocation used for purchases. Majority ownership and operational control of Chivo have moved to a private entity, while the state retains a minority position and custodial responsibility for customer funds.
The changes align with terms agreed under El Salvador's $1.4 billion IMF arrangement, which requires the government to constrain public-sector Bitcoin activity and strengthen governance frameworks around crypto assets. The IMF and Salvadoran authorities have also committed to enhancing transparency regarding the nation's total BTC holdings across multiple wallets and to updating the legal and regulatory infrastructure for digital assets. The organization expects no further Bitcoin accumulation beyond the documented donations already received.
The agreement represents a negotiated middle ground following years of friction between El Salvador—the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender—and the IMF, which has opposed expansive public cryptocurrency programs. The National Bitcoin Office's reserve tracker indicates holdings of approximately 7,764 BTC, though questions remain about the full scope of holdings across all government wallets and the longer-term trajectory of the country's crypto policy under IMF oversight.