IMF clears El Salvador on Bitcoin funding, unlocks $140M
Regulation & Gov ·
The fund says documentation shows private donors, not the state treasury, drove recent Bitcoin growth, paving the way for fresh loan disbursements.
The International Monetary Fund has concluded that El Salvador's government stopped tapping public money to grow its Bitcoin holdings after its initial Extended Fund Facility review on June 27, 2025, according to wublockchain.xyz. Officials in San Salvador submitted records the IMF says confirm that every coin added to reserves since that date came from private contributions rather than state funds.
The finding marks a shift from the fund's earlier posture. Decrypt reports that the IMF now attributes the country's Bitcoin accumulation to donations, revising language that had previously implied government-led purchases. The fund also stated it does not anticipate any further growth in the reserve beyond what has already been documented through donations.
The clarification arrived alongside a broader assessment: IMF staff reached agreement with Salvadoran authorities on the combined second and third reviews of the country's EFF program. That agreement, once cleared by the IMF's Executive Board and contingent on El Salvador completing a set of agreed prior actions, would release roughly $140 million in additional financing to the country, as noted by wublockchain.xyz.
Separate accounts of the review converge on the same conclusion. The Block similarly states that El Salvador has not used public funds for Bitcoin purchases since June 2025, with any recent additions traced to private sources. The overlap across multiple outlets covering the same IMF disclosure lends consistency to the underlying claim.
What remains unclear is how the IMF will monitor and verify donation flows going forward, and what specific prior actions El Salvador must still complete before the Executive Board formally signs off on the $140 million disbursement. The timeline for board approval has not been specified, leaving the release of funds pending further procedural steps.