IMF Says El Salvador Is in Talks to Sell State-Run Chivo BTC Wallet
San Salvador — On Monday, the International Monetary Fund said that El Salvador is moving forward with talks to trade its state-run Chivo BTC wallet. This could mean that the government is moving further away from directly managing cryptocurrency infrastructure.
The IMF the report as part of its ongoing evaluation of a $1.4 billion loan facility agreed in 2024. The financing came with stipulations to mitigate the risks associated with the country’s ahead embrace of BTC.
“Well Advanced” Talks for Chivo Sale
The IMF’s mission chief for El Salvador in an official statement that “negotiations for the sale of the government e-wallet Chivo are well advanced.” The fund also said that talks on the larger BTC project are ongoing and that they are “focused on increasing transparency, protecting public resources, and lowering risks.”
This change aligns with the loan requirements, which state that the government should stop involvement in the Chivo wallet, limit involvement in BTC-related activities, and make it optional for the private sector to accept the cryptocurrency. Chivo was launched in 2021, the identical year that El Salvador made history by recognising BTC as legal tender.
It was meant to make transactions easier and, at first, offered customers a $30 BTC bonus to get them to use it. But the wallet has been criticised for technical difficultys, , and insufficient use over time. If the transaction goes through, it might shift operations to private companies, allowing non-government wallets to serve consumers without the government being directly involved.
Mixed Signals About BTC Accumulation
Even though the IMF deal limits new BTC purchases, it’s still unclear whether people are following the rules. The fund said earlier this year that there had been no purchases since December 2024.
However, ‘s National BTC Office has continued to make public announcements of purchaseing, including a batch of 1,090 BTC worth almost $100 million in November.
At the end of the day on Monday, the government owned 7,509 BTC, which was worth about $659 million at the time. President Nayib Bukele, who was behind the 2021 BTC law, had in March that the daily purchase plan, purchaseing at least one BTC a day, would continue no matter what happened outside.
What This Means For BTC Strategy In General
The Chivo talks show how El Salvador’s ambitious cryptocurrency experiment is causing difficultys with international financial control. For a long time, the has been worried about how volatile risks could affect state finances and consumer protection.
The financing arrangement was a step forward later than years of tense talks, but the wallet’s future and continued BTC purchases indicate that there are still issues to be worked out.
People who watch say that privatising Chivo might keep accessible by letting the market find answers, even if the government stops running Chivo directly.
As talks continue, the results of the Chivo sale and the BTC policy discussions will likely shape the next steps for the IMF’s funding and El Salvador’s status as the first country in the world to use BTC as legal tender.
