El Salvador's strategic bitcoin reserve has surpassed $600mn in value, government data showed on May 15, as the country continues periodic cryptocurrency purchases despite pledges made under a $1.4bn IMF loan agreement to limit such acquisitions.

The Bitcoin Office said through its official portal that the Central American nation holds 7,652 BTC, equivalent to around $606mn at prices recorded at the close of the report. The most recent transaction, logged on May 14, added one bitcoin to bring the total to that level.

The Office said reserve data shows sustained growth over recent weeks, driven by periodic acquisitions.

The continued buying has drawn scrutiny over the Central American nation's adherence to its IMF programme commitments. The Fund stated in a July 2025 report that the government had pledged not to increase the total bitcoin held across state-controlled wallets. Official reserve data show holdings have risen from 5,968 BTC in December 2024, when the IMF programme was formalised, to the current 7,652 BTC, a trajectory that contradicts a letter of intent in which the central bank and finance ministry stated that no additional bitcoin had been purchased following the agreement.

El Salvador ranks fifth among sovereign holders of bitcoin globally, behind the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries. At current market prices, its bitcoin holdings account for roughly 12% of the country’s $5.1bn net international reserves.

The IMF had previously attributed earlier rises in the public bitcoin dashboard to internal transfers within El Salvador's Chivo digital wallet system rather than new acquisitions. "The accumulation by El Salvador's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Fund is consistent with programme conditionality, as it relates to movements across various government-owned wallets," IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said in July 2025. However, Salvadoran officials disputed that interpretation, maintaining that accumulation had continued.

El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, with President Nayib Bukele arguing the move would lower remittance costs and expand financial access for the roughly 70% of Salvadorans without bank accounts. To encourage uptake, the government distributed $30 in bitcoin to citizens who downloaded the state-backed Chivo wallet and offered fee-free transactions on the platform. The experiment drew widespread scepticism: a survey published in January 2025 found that 92% of Salvadorans had not used bitcoin in the prior year, and family remittances via digital wallets amounted to less than 1% of total transfers in December 2024. Bukele himself later acknowledged that adopting bitcoin as legal tender had been his government's "most unpopular" measure.

Its Legislative Assembly amended the Bitcoin Law in February 2025 at the Presidency's request, removing the obligation for businesses to accept the cryptocurrency and repealing its legal tender designation — a reform tied to the release of the IMF loan. Despite the policy rollback, the government has maintained a pattern of regular purchases through periods of market volatility.