The government of El Salvador has confirmed that it is maintaining its daily Bitcoin purchase programme, taking the sovereign fund's total to 7,508 BTC, valued at approximately $675M at the current price.
The Salvadoran government's strategy has been the subject of international controversy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressured throughout 2024 for El Salvador to drop Bitcoin as legal tender as a condition for approving a $1.4 billion loan. The government agreed to amend the Bitcoin Law to remove the mandatory-acceptance requirement, but kept the state accumulation programme.
The sovereign fund operates through Chivo Wallet and is fed from several sources: direct open-market purchases, an allocation of 0.5% of the tourism generated by the "Bitcoin Valley" programme in El Zonte, and part of the fees from the geothermal volcanoes that power the country's Bitcoin mining.
El Salvador's position in the global ranking of sovereign Bitcoin holders is second only to Bhutan, whose sovereign fund (Druk Holdings) holds approximately 9,000 BTC sourced from hydroelectric mining.
President Bukele has defended the strategy in multiple international forums, arguing that Bitcoin is the only way for a small country without its own currency to build sovereign reserves outside the traditional financial system.