El Salvador’s latest $100M Bitcoin haul rekindles questions around IMF program
El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, says it has bought more than $100 million in BTC despite pledging to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to limit public exposure to the asset as part of a loan agreement.
According to data from El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, the government acquired 1,090 Bitcoin (BTC) worth more than $100 million on Tuesday. The purchase comes after the IMF said in a July report that the Central American nation had not bought any new Bitcoin since the organization approved a $1.4 billion loan program at the end of 2024.
According to El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserve data, the country’s Bitcoin holdings went from 5,968 BTC on Dec. 18, 2024 — when the government inked a deal with the IMF — to over 7,474 BTC following its latest purchase announcement.
El Salvador’s reserves were valued at roughly $683 million at the time of writing, despite Bitcoin losing ground after falling 28% from an all-time high of over $126,000 in early October to $96,000 at the time of writing.
The move follows comments in July from Quentin Ehrenmann, general manager at My First Bitcoin — a non-governmental organization focused on Bitcoin adoption — who said that El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserve had a limited impact on the broader population. He said that “since the government entered into this contract with the IMF, Bitcoin is no longer legal tender, and we haven’t seen any other effort to educate people.”
“The government, apparently, continues to accumulate Bitcoin, which is beneficial for the government — it’s not directly good for the people.“
The IMF and the Salvadoran government did not respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comment by publication.
Related: Pro-Bitcoin restaurant Steak ‘n Shake announces El Salvador expansion
Is El Salvador buying Bitcoin or not?
Data from El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office appears to show that the government has continued to accumulate BTC since signing the IMF agreement. The IMF also requested that the country restrict Bitcoin purchases in early March, in accordance with the terms of the previous loan agreement.
Still, a letter of intent signed by El Salvador’s central bank president and Minister of Finance — quoted in the aforementioned July IMF report — claims that the Central American country bought no Bitcoin since the 2024 loan.
The IMF report explained that Chivo “does not adjust its Bitcoin reserves to reflect changes in clients’ Bitcoin deposits,” which led to “minor” discrepancies that made it appear that El Salvador’s public sector was accumulating BTC.
Related: My First Bitcoin ends El Salvador program, pivots to global BTC education
The letter, signed by Salvadoran officials, further stated that “in line with commitments under the program, the stock of Bitcoins held by the public sector remains unchanged.” It also promised that steps to reduce exposure are being taken.
“We are taking steps to mitigate fiscal risks by reducing the public sector’s role in the Chivo wallet and reframing the Bitcoin project.”
Those assurances came before the latest — and unusually large — Bitcoin purchase. Even so, the government has continued to suggest it was steadily accumulating BTC before this week’s buy, raising fresh questions over how closely it is adhering to the IMF deal and how its Bitcoin reserves are being reported.
Magazine: What Bitcoin adoption is ACTUALLY like in El Salvador
Brazil is reportedly weighing a tax on the use of cryptocurrencies for international payments as it moves to adopt a global crypto tax reporting data exchange framework.
A Tuesday Reuters report, citing “officials with direct knowledge of the discussions,” claims that the Brazilian government aims to tax cryptocurrency use for international payments.
During the confidential talks, representatives of the country’s finance ministry reportedly expressed interest in expanding the Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras (IOF) tax to include some digital asset-based cross-border transactions.
Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service also announced yesterday that its reporting rules for crypto-asset transactions will be aligned with the global Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), in a legal act dated Nov. 14.
This would provide the tax department with access to citizens’ foreign crypto account data through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global reporting and data-sharing standard. The move comes as no surprise, with Brazil having signed a statement in favor of CARF in late 2023.
The move follows Monday reports that the White House is reviewing the Internal Revenue Service’s proposal to join CARF and a similar move by the Council of the European Union, the collective body of EU27 finance ministers. In late September, the United Arab Emirates also signed an agreement to join the data-sharing program.
Related: Why Brazil is using Bitcoin as a treasury asset and what other nations can learn
Brazil moves to close a crypto loophole
Cryptocurrencies are currently exempt from the IOF tax; however, crypto capital gains are subject to a 17.5% flat tax. IOF is a federal tax charged on financial transactions — mainly foreign exchange, credit, insurance and securities operations.
The two sources cited by Reuters said the move aims to close a loophole while also boosting public revenue. The current exclusion of digital assets from IOF is viewed as a loophole, as those assets — especially stablecoins — can be used as a de facto foreign-exchange or payment rail while skirting the taxes imposed on traditional means to do so.
The officials said the rules aim to “ensure that the use of stablecoins does not create regulatory arbitrage vis-a-vis the traditional foreign-exchange market.”
Related: Brazilian solar firm Thopen considers Bitcoin mining to absorb surplus power
Brazil clamps down on crypto loopholes
The move is in line with the Brazilian central bank’s introduction this month of new rules treating some stablecoin and crypto wallet operations as foreign exchange operations. The new rules extend existing rules on consumer protection, transparency and Anti-Money Laundering to crypto brokers, custodians and intermediaries.
In April, Brazilian judges were authorized to seize cryptocurrency assets from debtors, closing another loophole. “Although they are not legal tender, crypto assets can be used as a form of payment and as a store of value,” a translated version of the Superior Court of Justice’s memo read.
Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — plus crypto tax tips
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest document on its examination priorities for 2026 has noticeably omitted its regular section on crypto, seemingly in line with US President Donald Trump’s embrace of the industry.
On Monday, the SEC’s Division of Examinations released its examination priorities for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2026, which made no specific mention of crypto or digital assets.
However, the SEC said that its stated priorities are not “an exhaustive list of all the areas the Division will focus on in the upcoming year.”
The US crypto industry has boomed under Trump, who has largely worked to deregulate the sector while his family has expanded their footprint into crypto with a trading platform, mining business, stablecoin and token.
“Examinations are an important component to accomplishing the agency’s mission, but they should not be a ’gotcha’ exercise,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.
“Today’s release of examination priorities should enable firms to prepare to have a constructive dialogue with SEC examiners and provide transparency into the priorities of the agency’s most public-facing division,” he added.
The Division of Examinations is responsible for probing organizations, including investment advisers, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, and stock exchanges, for compliance with federal securities laws.
Related: Crypto oversight by CFTC over SEC is ‘directionally correct’ — Jeff Park
Last year, under outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the Division said it would focus on the “offer, sale, recommendation, advice, trading, and other activities involving crypto assets,” explicitly naming spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds as a priority.
“Given the volatility and activity involving the crypto asset markets, the Division will continue to monitor and, when appropriate, conduct examinations of registrants offering crypto asset-related services,” the Division said last year.
The examination division also wrote a section dedicated to crypto assets and emerging financial technology in 2023.
In its latest priorities list, the SEC said it was focusing on “core areas,” including fiduciary duty, custody and customer information protection.
The SEC said in its report that it will focus on “the risks associated with the use of emerging technologies,” and made particular mention of artificial intelligence and automated investment tools.
A section of the agency’s report outlines that it will also give “particular attention” to firms’ ability to react and recover from cyber incidents, “including those related to ransomware attacks.”
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
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