The $1.4 billion loan agreement with the IMF stipulates that El Salvador must dismantle the Fidebitcoin trust and provide audited financial reports for both platforms. The government is also required to disclose its public Bitcoin holdings, including wallet information, with compliance assessments planned throughout 2025. Following the acquisition of the $1.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund, the Bitcoin-friendly nation of El Salvador is now under financial scrutiny, particularly concerning its BTC assets. According to the recent agreement with the IMF, the administration of Nayib Bukele will need to ensure public engagement with the Chivo wallet, which is a government-backed Bitcoin wallet. The pact also stipulates that the government must cease utilizing taxpayer money in Chivo by July 2025. In the previous article, we discussed how El Salvador was compelled to revoke Bitcoin’s status as legal tender last month due to financial stability issues raised by the IMF. Moreover, the country is required to dismantle the Fidebitcoin trust, which was established to foster Bitcoin adoption, and it must issue audited financial reports for both the Fidebitcoin and Chivo wallet. To increase transparency, the government should also make public the Bitcoin holdings of its public institutions. This involves providing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a comprehensive list of both cold and hot wallet addresses, as well as the precise amounts in each. To keep track of this advancement, the IMF has arranged compliance assessments for March, June, July, and December 2025. The IMF has expressed that these actions are essential for risk management as they intensify their examination of El Salvador’s daring initiative to incorporate Bitcoin into its financial system. There is a push for greater transparency regarding El Salvador’s $1.4 billion agreement with the IMF. Even though the IMF has urged for improved financial accountability, the $1.4 billion loan deal does not have specific measures for distributing and overseeing the funds. Many critics have observed a decline in transparency during President Nayib Bukele’s time in office. Since he assumed the presidency in 2019, Bukele has methodically undermined the nation’s transparency structures, such as modifying laws that restrict public access to information regarding government expenditures, asset disclosures, and the names of legislative consultants. The IMF has indicated that the loan represents a move towards enhancing governance and fiscal responsibility. Nonetheless, the absence of supervisory processes has brought into question how well these measures actually work. Even though the IMF has urged El Salvador to reduce its Bitcoin acquisitions, the country has persisted in increasing its holdings of the cryptocurrency.
The IMF compels El Salvador to disband its Bitcoin Trust and adhere to more stringent regulatory measures.
