- El Salvador makes Bitcoin acceptance voluntary in order to comply with an IMF loan agreement.
- The government intends to continue acquiring Bitcoin despite policy changes.
El Salvador’s Congress approved a legislative bill on Wednesday amending the country’s Bitcoin law in response to a $1.4 billion loan agreement by the International Monetary Fund, which conditioned approval on conditions that included keeping acceptance of the cryptocurrency voluntary instead of mandatory for businesses. The measure was sent by President Nayib Bukele just minutes before the vote.
It has been nearly three years since El Salvador became the first country globally to adopt Bitcoin as a lawful tender beside the U.S. dollar. Although the move made Bukele the frontier of Bitcoin promotion, it raised loud criticisms from global financial institutions, including the IMF, which called on the nation to minimize its usage of the cryptocurrency.
El Salvador Revises Bitcoin Law to Comply with IMF Agreement
As a result of the new reform, businesses would no longer be obligated to accept Bitcoin, which the IMF said was an indispensable step for getting the loan deal. According to Elisa Rosales, a legislator from Bukele’s New Ideas party, the amendment was a necessary step toward making sure that Bitcoin would be permanent as legal tender but practical to implement. The measure passed easily after it was voted on by 55 lawmakers in support and only two who opposed it.
Though the Bukele government has reduced the fraction of required Bitcoin use in transactions. However, it is still continuing to accumulate more Bitcoins. The government recently reaffirmed plans to buy more Bitcoins. This decision was arrived with a consensus that even more value will be attributed to Bitcoins in the long run.
The official tracker of Bitcoin Office reports that El Salvador owns 6,049 BTC, worth around $633 million. With an average price per Bitcoin at $46,000, the portfolio for the country has appreciated by 127%.
Amid the market buzz, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $109,114 on January 20 before dropping to $98K on January 27, 2025. It then surged and stabilized. According to CMC, at the time of writing, BTC is trading at $105,190, up 2.54% in the last 24 hours.
The amendment follows a surge in Bitcoin’s price, fueled partly by U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent election victory and the expectation of more favorable crypto policies under his administration. With these policy changes, El Salvador remains a central player in Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption while balancing global financial partnerships.
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