El Salvador has received about $138 million from the International Monetary Fund after the lender approved waivers for missed performance targets under the country’s financing program, including a condition related to Bitcoin accumulation.
According to Cointelegraph, the IMF Executive Board completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s 40-month Extended Fund Facility arrangement on Thursday. The program provides for a total of $1.4 billion in financing.
The immediate disbursement was approved even though some of the agreed performance criteria were not met. The IMF said the waivers were justified by “strong corrective measures and renewed commitments” from the Salvadoran authorities.
Bitcoin commitments remain under scrutiny
The review is significant because the IMF has continued to press El Salvador to reduce the government’s role in Bitcoin-related activities. The lender said further work would focus on limiting state involvement, improving crypto-asset regulation and governance, and providing greater transparency about digital assets held by the public sector.
The IMF also said that no additional Bitcoin accumulation is planned beyond documented donations. This commitment addresses questions about how El Salvador’s Bitcoin holdings increased after an earlier review of the financing program.
In November 2025, El Salvador said it had acquired 1,090 BTC valued at $100 million. That announcement raised questions about whether the purchases were consistent with the conditions attached to the IMF program.
The IMF later said documents provided by Salvadoran officials showed that the post-review increase came from private donations rather than purchases financed with public funds. As a result, the lender said the growth in the country’s Bitcoin holdings did not represent additional government-funded buying.
Changes to the Chivo wallet
The IMF highlighted several areas of progress during the latest reviews. These included reforms in the financial sector, improved fiscal transparency, and changes related to anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing rules.
It also pointed to the transfer of majority ownership and operational control of the government’s Chivo Bitcoin wallet to a private operator. The government retains a minority stake and custodial responsibilities, according to the information cited in the review.
Chivo is the digital wallet associated with El Salvador’s cryptocurrency program. The change in ownership and control forms part of the broader effort to reduce the state’s direct role in crypto-related operations while retaining certain responsibilities.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 9:38 a.m. on October 5, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $85,891.93, up 0.79% over 24 hours and 4.02% over seven days.
Other assets in the supplied data showed mixed performance. REAL was priced at $0.2063109401 at 1:04 p.m. on October 3, up 7.73% over 24 hours but down 11.35% over seven days. RedStone stood at $0.1719219811 at 9:38 a.m. on October 5, down 2.61% in 24 hours and up 7.12% over the week. Loaded Lions was $0.0015666721 at 9:39 a.m. the same day, rising 1.29% in 24 hours and 6.82% over seven days.
The latest IMF decision allows the financing program to continue while keeping El Salvador’s Bitcoin policies subject to tighter oversight, transparency requirements and commitments to limit further state-led accumulation.
