El Salvador has increased its national crypto reserve, adding 11 Bitcoin worth over $1 million. The latest purchase puts the country’s entire Bitcoin cache at 5,980 BTC. The recent purchase is also after the country’s fresh $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The loan, however, didn’t come without promises of the country relaxing some of its crypto policies.
One such policy concerns its national crypto wallet, Chivo. The country has agreed to discontinue or sell its national digital wallet. Meanwhile, El Salvador has been making huge profits with its Bitcoin reserve. The recent portfolio tracker by its president, Nayib Bukele, showed an unrealized profit of over $125 million. The figure represents a 91% growth, with most of the profits coming from the purchases made during the bear market.
El Salvador remains committed to purchasing BTC
According to previous reports, the IMF agreement was expected to stifle the country‘s Bitcoin quest, but that looks unlikely now. In its agreement, El Salvador had clarified its intention to keep purchasing BTC. According to the country’s national Bitcoin office director Stacy Herbert on microblogging platform X, Bitcoin will remain a legal tender in El Salvador and the country will keep increasing its BTC reserve.
However, a statement from New Jersey-based MoneyCorp’s head of trading and structured products for North America Eugene Epstein felt the announcement was a PR stunt. He mentioned that the announcement might be a way to soften the backlash, but with the country still purchasing, it shows they have adopted Bitcoin as a way of life.
IMF loan rules and its Bitcoin dissatisfaction
There was a lot of speculation and raised eyebrows when reports said the IMF and El Salvador were getting into a loan agreement. This is because the organization had always been opposed to their Bitcoin push, sounding a note of alarm for investors. However, El Salvador only agreed to amend some of its policies. Its recent purchase also shows its strong commitment to Bitcoin.
Most skeptics are always worried about the risks that come with holding BTC, noting that it is a huge gamble for governments to hold the asset. Even when El Salvador announced the asset as a legal tender, negative comments were trailing the decision, especially when several reports noted that most of its residents were not gravitating toward the decree. However, crypto enthusiasts have always drummed up the need to adopt the asset, claiming that users stand to gain more when they do.