El Salvador Receives $138 Million From IMF After Winning Waiver on Bitcoin Conditions

El Salvador has received $138 million from the International Monetary Fund after the lender approved a waiver even though the country failed to meet some Bitcoin-related conditions.

Cointelegraph reported on October 4 that the IMF Executive Board completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador’s 40-month Extended Fund Facility program and approved an immediate disbursement. The total program size is $1.4 billion.

The IMF said it granted the waiver despite unmet performance criteria, including a ban on additional Bitcoin purchases, citing “strong corrective actions” and new policy commitments. It also said the review found progress in financial-sector reform, fiscal transparency, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, or AML/CFT, reforms.

In a statement, the IMF said El Salvador would continue scaling back public-sector Bitcoin-related activity, strengthening virtual-asset regulation and governance, and improving transparency around public-sector virtual-asset holdings. No additional Bitcoin purchases are planned beyond recorded donations, it said.

El Salvador had previously said it acquired an additional 1,090 Bitcoin in November 2025, worth about $100 million at the time, raising questions about compliance with the IMF program. After reviewing documents submitted by Salvadoran authorities, the IMF confirmed that the Bitcoin had been obtained through private donations and that no government funds were used.

The IMF added that, in the case of the Chivo wallet, operational control and majority ownership had been transferred to a private operator, while the government retained a minority stake and custodial responsibility.