Under the leadership of President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador seems resolute in its pursuit of accumulating bitcoin (BTC), regardless of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) requests.
“‘This all stops in April.’ ‘This all stops in June.’ ‘This all stops in December.’ No, it’s not stopping,” Bukele shared on X on Tuesday afternoon. “If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us and most ‘bitcoiners’ abandoned us, it won’t stop now, and it won’t stop in the future. Proof of work > proof of whining.”
Bukele’s remarks followed shortly after the IMF released more details regarding its $3.5 billion agreement with the Central American country. The IMF alleged that as part of the loan conditions, it has imposed a ban on the “voluntary accumulation of bitcoin by the public sector.”
In what may be a reaction to the IMF’s announcement, or perhaps unrelated, El Salvador revealed late Monday night that it had purchased 19 bitcoin in the past week, along with an additional token on Tuesday afternoon.
The IMF’s announcement generated a flurry of reactions from the bitcoin community, including from Samson Mow, who has previously been an ally of President Bukele.
“No more #Bitcoin buys for El Salvador,” Mow posted earlier on Tuesday. “The buys will all stop within a few months,” he later stated, despite the country having made another purchase.
The Salvadoran government currently possesses 6,101.15 bitcoin, which is approximately valued at $530 million, given bitcoin’s current rate of around $88,000.
“The message is more than significant — it’s a catalyst for monumental change. Thanks [Nayib Bukele],” Juan Carlos Reyes, the head of El Salvador’s National Commission on Digital Assets (CNAD), shared on X, referencing Bukele’s post.
