But they borrowed $1.4 billion from the IMF in December last year, so I feel that they used the loan money to buy bitcoins, even though they promised the IMF not to use public funds to buy bitcoins.
Include the source of the $1.4 billion from the IMF so that those who read it can find out.
What I know after doing a search by entering keywords El Salvador borrowed $1.4 billion from the IMF, it happened in December 2024. It seems that according to the
source, the IMF wants El Salvador to reduce its Bitcoin policy.
According to some other sources I've read, the loan could be as high as $3.5 billion , not just $1.4 billion . But this loan will not be disbursed immediately by the IMF , but will be disbursed within 40 months and divided into several installments.
So far, El Salvador has only received the first 113 million on February 26, 2025 . The second disbursement has yet to be approved because El Salvador has not met IMF requirements.
So they can't use the loan money to buy bitcoin , that would violate the agreement and they would get cut off from aid , they're not stupid enough to do that.
Then I have a question, that is, the current bitcoin price is so good, why doesn't El Salvador pledge bitcoins to lending platforms to obtain an annualized rate of return, which is about 6% to 9%, and they have 6188 bitcoins, worth 657,911,721USD, and can earn 59 million USD in interest each year.
How much help does this have for the El Salvadoran economy?
We don't know exactly what the regulations are there. I mean, it might be against the rules. There could also be a special strategy that El Salvador is doing with their Bitcoin so they don't do what you're asking.
I understand simply because they consider bitcoin as a national reserve currency, a national asset and need to keep it domestically to avoid risks.