El Salvador Doubles Down on Bitcoin Purchases—IMF Claims Ignored in Bold Crypto Move

El Salvador's Bitcoin bet just got bolder. While the IMF insists the country halted purchases, President Nayib Bukele’s government keeps stacking sats—flipping the bird to traditional finance skeptics.

Who’s telling the truth? The crypto-adopting nation or the suits in Washington? Either way, Salvadorans are stuck holding the bag—volatility and all.

Funny how the IMF suddenly cares about fiscal responsibility after decades of disastrous austerity prescriptions. Maybe they’re just salty about losing monetary monopoly.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Reserve Numbers Face IMF Doubt

On July 24, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office confirmed a fresh purchase of 8 BTC, valued at approximately $948,392. The announcement shows the coins were acquired at an average price of $118,549 each.

This brings the country’s total publicly reported bitcoin holdings to roughly 6,248 BTC—currently worth around $740 million.

However, this disclosure contradicts a recent statement from the IMF. The organization claimed that El Salvador had not purchased any new Bitcoin.

According to the IMF, the country has been shuffling coins between wallets rather than making new acquisitions. It argues that these internal transfers create the illusion of accumulation when, in reality, the total amount of BTC held remains unchanged.

The IMF also said the national Bitcoin wallet system does not accurately update reserve figures in real time, leading to further confusion.

John Dennehy, founder of the Bitcoin education project ‘My First Bitcoin’, supported this view. He described the recent wallet activity as “misleading,” stating that transfers between internal accounts are being framed as fresh purchases without increasing the total holdings.

Another day, another Bitcoin transferred from an undisclosed govt controlled wallet to a public facing govt controlled wallet

It's misleading to present this as El Salvador stacking when in reality the total amount stays the same

The Salvadoran government has not officially responded to the IMF’s statement. However, it continues to highlight its broader Bitcoin strategy, particularly in education.

Stacy Herbert, Director of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, pointed to a growing list of national programs aimed at increasing Bitcoin literacy.

These include initiatives like Node Nation for high school students, the Bitcoin Diploma program, and CUBO+, which engages young tech talent across the country. Over 80,000 civil servants are also receiving training under a program known as ESIAP.

This means that El Salvador continues to position itself as a pioneer in Bitcoin adoption. However, questions about transparency and compliance with international financial agreements persist.