Key takeaways
- The IMF Executive Board completes two EFF reviews for El Salvador, allowing an immediate disbursement of about $138M
- The IMF grants waivers for missed criteria, including the Bitcoin accumulation condition, after documented private donations
- The IMF expects no further Bitcoin accumulation from El Salvador beyond documented donations under its $1.4B program
On October 1, 2026, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board completed the second and third reviews under El Salvador's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele reacted on X to the IMF announcement by quoting it with a kiss emoji. The reviews allow an immediate disbursement of SDR 101.96M, about $138M.
The board found that several performance criteria had not been met, including the condition covering Bitcoin accumulation. Waivers were granted after what the IMF described as corrective measures and renewed commitments from Salvadoran authorities. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Dan Katz said residual public-sector involvement in Chivo should be fully unwound, according to crypto.news.
The Bitcoin Accumulation Waiver
According to crypto.news, wallet movements appeared to show El Salvador continuing to add Bitcoin after agreeing to limit state accumulation. Those wallet movements put El Salvador at odds with the condition covering Bitcoin accumulation, one of the performance criteria the board found had not been met.
The IMF said documentation supplied by El Salvador showed the accumulation came from private donations and that no public resources were used. Donor identities and individual donation amounts have not been made public.
The board completed the second and third reviews together, and the disbursement of SDR 101.96M, about $138M, followed immediately under the EFF arrangement once the waivers were granted.
Bukele reacted on X to the IMF announcement by quoting it with a kiss emoji and no other text.
What the IMF Expects Next
The IMF said no further Bitcoin accumulation is expected beyond documented donations, crypto.news reported. That wording leaves documented donations outside the expectation, the same private donations El Salvador used to explain the bitcoin added after agreeing to limit state accumulation.
The reviews cover El Salvador's $1.4B program under a 40-month Extended Fund Facility, according to crypto.news.
Why It Matters
Wallet movements appeared to show El Salvador adding Bitcoin after agreeing to limit state accumulation, and the IMF released about $138M only after El Salvador documented that private donations, with no public resources used, funded those coins. That sequence reveals the Fund's incentive, because an IMF that expects no further Bitcoin accumulation beyond documented donations is using a $1.4B lending program to stop a sovereign state from saving in money that no central bank can debase. Private donors can still send bitcoin to El Salvador, but the waiver shows the treasury's own stacking stays fenced in by the terms of the 40-month Extended Fund Facility.
