By Nelson Renteria
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador said on Thursday it would continue buying bitcoin, possibly at an accelerated pace, a day after the government reached a funding agreement with the International Monetary Fund that said it should limit its exposure to the cryptocurrency .
Stacy Herbert, head of El Salvador’s national Bitcoin office, wrote on X that Bitcoin will remain legal tender in the Central American country and that the government will continue to increase its strategic reserves.
On Wednesday, El Salvador finalized a $1.4 billion loan deal with the IMF, under which President Nayib Bukele’s government agreed to scale back its Bitcoin policy. The deal stipulated that tax payments would only be made in the other official tender, the US dollar.
IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack said Thursday that planned legal reforms in El Salvador would make private sector acceptance of Bitcoin voluntary.
The government’s announcement of more Bitcoin purchases “may just be a way to counteract any negative setbacks” arising from the cryptocurrency’s perceived deteriorating status in El Salvador, said Eugene Epstein, head of trading and structured products for North America at Moneycorp New Jersey.
“Given the size and likely terms of the IMF deal, it was probably worth it for (Bukele) to do that.”
El Salvador owns 5,968 coins worth $594 million. Bitcoin has rallied in recent days after US President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his plans for a strategic reserve for the cryptocurrency, similar to a strategic oil reserve.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to…
