El Salvador’s Bitcoin Dreams Ends

El Salvador’s high-profile experiment with Bitcoin seems like its coming to an end following the restrictions the country is facing on top of the fading public enthusiasm for Bitcoin.

El Salvador has recently made a pact with the International Monetary Fund that in exchange for the continuation of the IMF loan, El Salvador is no longer allowed to purchase additional Bitcoin

This policy shift marks a dramatic reversal for the country once heralded as the world’s first to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

Quentin Ehrenmann, general manager at My First Bitcoin, states that government-backed Bitcoin education and adoption programs have ground to a halt since the IMF agreement.

“Bitcoin is no longer legal tender, and we haven’t seen any other effort to educate people.”

The shift has raised questions about the long-term viability of El Salvador's crypto policy and whether the original vision has been quietly shelved.

The Chivo wallet—originally the keystone of El Salvador’s strategy to bring crypto to all—will be privatized per IMF rules, and it will no longer be run on government funds.

Despite the pledge to pause BTC purchases, blockchain analytics firms have observed steady inflows of 1 BTC per day to addresses reportedly linked to the Salvadoran government.

El Salvador officially holds 6,244 BTC, but the provenance of ongoing wallet activity remains unclear—fueling speculation about whether these are official purchases or private transactions.

Other Institutions Forge Ahead as Doubts Mount

While El Salvador reconsiders its approach, global institutions remain active. Japan's Metaplanet recently acquired 780 Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, The Blockchain Group in France and the UK's smarter Web Company added more than 340 BTC combined.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy announced $14 billion in unrealized Bitcoin gains in Q2 2025.

However, analysts like Ran Neuner argue that many corporate treasury maneuvers are facilitating exits for longstanding crypto holders, rather than demonstrating new institutional convictions.

Instead of purchasing assets directly from exchanges, these companies often receive crypto contributions from existing holders, in exchange for shares that later trade at massive premiums on public markets.

Glassnode’s James Check warns that the era of easy profits for corporate Bitcoin treasuries is waning as adoption matures and competition intensifies.