IMF-El Salvador Deal Bitcoin Compliance Goals Broken: Chivo Wallet Involved

The latest report issued by the IMF on the compliance of El Salvador’s actions with the guidelines established in the $1.4 billion credit facility deal approved in February revealed that Chivo Wallet led the nation to miss the bitcoin non-accumulation quotas.

Bitcoin Non-Accumulation Compliance Goals Missed: IMF Fingers Chivo Wallet

El Salvador is facing one of the first issues regarding compliance with the voluntary non-accumulation bitcoin agreement that enabled a $1.4 billion credit facility deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The latest IMF review on El Salvador’s performance regarding the measures recommended states that the Chivo Wallet, the official bitcoin wallet of the government, led the government to miss the established non-accumulation goals.

The report states:

Fluctuations in Chivo clients’ deposits denominated in bitcoin and Chivo’s liquidity management policy, which does not adjust to such fluctuations, led to minor breaches in conditionality.

According to the IMF, when Chivo Wallet users sell bitcoin liquidity, the wallet does not sell the underlying cryptocurrency, leading to an increase in the bitcoin owned by the Salvadoran public sector.

The fund highlighted that to measure these disruptions, Bitcoin holdings are monitored using signed statements for all hot and cold wallet addresses and their balances, and a monitoring tool is used to detect daily changes in Chivo Wallet deposits.

“Corrective actions have been taken to establish a sufficient buffer to mitigate the risk of future breaches prior to the planned sale of Chivo,” the fund noted.

El Salvador’s authorities have already published a plan that involves unwinding and/or selling Chivo Wallet during this month, as well as liquidating Fidebitcoin, a government-created fund to support easy BTC-USD exchange operations for a government-operated wallet.

Paradoxically, the report does not reference the ongoing bitcoin accumulation program led by the Salvadoran government, which has allowed the Bukele administration to keep purchasing bitcoin without affecting the ongoing deal.

According to numbers from the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) of El Salvador, the nation holds over 6,239 BTC worth over $740 million at the time of writing.

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