Bitcoin: El Salvador's Reserve Grows Despite Agreement with the IMF

DCA or private donations? El Salvador has added 29 bitcoins to its national reserve since August 28, bringing its total to approximately 7,787 BTC, valued at nearly $658 million. Cointelegraph presents this growth as a possible strategy for regular investment, but the dashboard does not specify the origin of each unit added.

Nuance matters. Since September, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the increase in reserves observed since its first review comes from private donations and that no public resources have financed these acquisitions.

Key Points

• The Salvadoran reserve has increased by 29 BTC since August 28, reaching approximately 7,787 BTC
• This increase represents nearly 0.94 BTC per day, a pace close to the daily bitcoin target announced in 2022
• The $1.4 billion agreement with the IMF prohibits voluntary accumulation of BTC by the public sector
• The IMF attributes recent additions to private donations rather than new public expenditures

Bitcoin: El Salvador's Counter Progresses Almost Daily

The dashboard associated with the National Bitcoin Office allows tracking of addresses presented as belonging to the country's strategic reserve. As of September 27, it reached approximately 7,787 BTC, after an increase of 8 bitcoins in seven days and 29 units since August 28.

The pace remains very close to the initial target. Twenty-nine bitcoins added in about thirty days correspond to an average of approximately 0.94 BTC per day, almost identical to the one bitcoin daily policy announced by Nayib Bukele in November 2022.

This regularity resembles a DCA strategy, or dollar cost averaging. This method involves investing a fixed amount or buying a determined quantity at regular intervals to smooth the entry price, without attempting to anticipate market movements.

However, the origin of the added bitcoins nuances this interpretation. The balance can increase through purchases, but also through donations or the country's mining activities. The dashboard publicizes the assets placed in the national reserve without systematically specifying their source or funding method.

Cointelegraph raises questions about the famous DCA of Nayib Bukele's country -- Source: X Account

The IMF Attributes Bitcoin Accumulation to Private Donations

President Bukele's country reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF in December 2024, before the approval in February 2025 of a $1.4 billion financing program over forty months. In return, the government agreed to limit its exposure to Bitcoin and to cease any voluntary accumulation by the public sector.

The reform of the Bitcoin law also removed its main characteristics as legal tender. Businesses are no longer required to accept it, taxes must be paid in dollars, and the state has committed to gradually reduce its involvement in the Chivo wallet.

For several months, the IMF explained that the observed movements corresponded mainly to consolidations between wallets already controlled by the government. Its position evolved on September 3, 2026, during the technical agreement concerning the second and third reviews of the program.

According to the Fund, Salvadoran authorities provided documents demonstrating that the accumulation recorded since the first review came from private donations, without mobilizing public resources. This explanation allows the counter to progress without directly violating the commitment to no longer voluntarily purchase bitcoins with public sector money.

However, it leaves a gray area: the identity of the donors, individual amounts, and the conditions of these transfers have not been published. It remains impossible to automatically equate the additional 29 BTC with daily purchases by the state.

El Salvador indeed holds nearly 7,787 bitcoins and has announced no sale of its strategic reserve. But since the agreement with the IMF, the progression of the national treasury no longer solely constitutes proof of a public DCA policy. The counter continues to rise; the money used to fuel it no longer officially comes from the Salvadoran budget.

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