30s Summary
El Salvador bought $1 million in Bitcoin, raising its total holdings to nearly $580 million. This followed its $1.4 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which requires the central government to limit its Bitcoin transactions and allows only the private sector to voluntarily accept Bitcoin. In return, El Salvador promised not to sell its current Bitcoins and continue buying at least one Bitcoin per day. The deal is still pending approval from the IMF Executive Board.
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El Salvador dropped big bucks buying $1 million worth of Bitcoin. This happened the day following a $1.4 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which came with some restrictions on Bitcoin dealings.
As per a social media update from the National Bitcoin Office, they moved over $1 million in Bitcoin to their strategic reserve. Their website even shows an addition of 11 Bitcoins.
This purchase is a break from their ‘one Bitcoin per day’ rule. President Nayib Bukele had established this routine back in November 2022. Now, El Salvador is sat on a stash of 5,980.77 Bitcoins. If you’re wondering how much that is in dollars, we’re talking roughly around $580 million.
Stacy Herbert, who’s the head honcho of the Bitcoin office, confirmed in a social media post that they’ve no plan of stopping their Bitcoin buying spree.
Just a day before these crypto moves, a financing agreement was nailed down with the International Monetary Fund. In exchange for $1.4 billion over 40 months, the IMF asked El Salvador to dial down some of their Bitcoin actions.
As part of their agreement with the IMF, El Salvador’s government-led Bitcoin transactions will be placed under some limitations. They agreed that only the private sector can accept Bitcoin voluntarily, taxes must be paid in US dollars, and they will lessen the government’s involvement with their own Chivo crypto wallet.
Despite all this, a Bitcoin Office rep reassured us that El Salvador isn’t planning to sell any of their current Bitcoins. They’re going to keep on adding at least one Bitcoin a day to their collection.
El Salvador was the first place to make Bitcoin a legal tender in September 2021. According to Herbert, this policy isn’t going to change. She also mentioned the government’s Chivo wallet will either be sold off or tapered down. Meanwhile, private Bitcoin wallets will continue to serve the good folks of El Salvador.
There’s a last hurdle yet. The IMF Executive Board needs to give the green light to the deal. It’s been a long four years of negotiation strained by Bukele’s love for Bitcoin. According to the IMF, this love affair has put El Salvador on thin ice. Now, we wait to see how it all pans out.