El Salvador’s Bukele Says Bitcoin Purchases Won’t Stop Due to IMF Deal

Led by President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador apparently has no intention of stopping its accumulation of bitcoin (BTC) no matter what the IMF demands.

“‘This all stops in April.’ ‘This all stops in June.’ ‘This all stops in December.’ No, it’s not stopping,” Bukele posted 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 social media post came shortly after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published more details about its $3.5 billion deal with the Latin American nation. The IMF claimed as part of the loan package to have imposed a prohibition of “voluntary accumulation of bitcoin by the public sector.”

Perhaps in response to the IMF posting, or perhaps not, El Salvador late Monday night disclosed the purchase of 19 bitcoin over the previous seven days and then on Tuesday afternoon disclosed the purchase of one additional token on top of that.

The IMF news drew a number online howls by bitcoiners, including from Samson Mow, who has at least previously been close to President Bukele.

“No more #Bitcoin buys for El Salvador,” said Mow earlier on Tuesday. “The buys will all stop within a few months,” he said later after the country did indeed make an additional purchase.

The Salvadoran government currently holds 6,101.15 bitcoin, worth roughly $530 million at bitcoin’s current price of around $88,000.

“The message is not just important — it’s a catalyst for monumental change. Thanks [Nayib Bukele],” Juan Carlos Reyes, president of El Salvador’s National Commission on Digital Assets (CNAD), posted on X, linking back to Bukele’s post.