Traditionally, we’ll start with an explanation. El Salvador’s authorities recognised Bitcoin as official tender on the seventh of September 2021. As of that date, the cryptocurrency can be paid for in many large shops and outlets with various goods and services.

At the same time, the government has taken to investing directly in BTC. So far, due to the sagging market and Bitcoin's fall from its highs by more than 50 percent, the condition of the investments is far from good: in particular, they were in the red by about 20 million last week.

Given the situation, IMF officials have officially called for El Salvador to drop BTC as a means of payment. They did that on the 25th of January, to which President Nayib Buquelet reacted on Twitter. He shared an edited GIF animation from The Simpsons where the logo of Bitcoin and the said organisation had been added. It also had the caption “I see you, IMF. That’s very nice.”

That said, the country’s officials have only now shared an official response to the IMF recommendations. And they are unlikely to please fund staff.

What will happen to Bitcoin in El Salvador

Here is a quote from Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador’s Minister of Economy, published by Decrypt. The rejoinder clearly outlines the position taken by the country’s leadership.

No international organisation will force us to do anything at all.

Accordingly, Bitcoin is certain to continue to be a valid means of payment within this state. Well, the authorities will clearly continue to invest in the cryptocurrency and actively promote the topic of digital assets.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Buquele

He also added that the issue of Bitcoin legalisation is about the sovereignty of the country. In other words, the Salvadoran government will “hold on to cryptocurrency” to the last – and even in such an unfavourable environment.


This isn't the first time the IMF has drawn attention to new development strategies from President El Salvador Nayib Buquele. As far back as during the legalization of BTC in September last year, the IMF warned that the venture might harm the local economy. As we can see, so far they are right.

Although traditionally it should be noted that El Salvador's current Bitcoin losses are unrealised. Accordingly, if Bitcoin rises, the potential losses could disappear and income could be generated in their place. Moreover, given President Nayib Buquele's tweets, we can assume that the country's leaders are clearly preparing to save their own savings until the first cryptocurrency reaches new records.

MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor

However, cryptocurrency fans can’t be stopped that easily. They also include Michael Sailor, CEO of MicroStrategy, which has been actively buying crypto since the year before last. The day before, Saylor announced another round of investment worth $25 million in cash. MicroStrategy bought 660 BTC at an average price of $37,865. This brings its total crypto investment to 125,051 BTC or $3.78 billion.

The average purchase price of all coins is $30,200, which means that so far MicroStrategy is in a decent surplus. At the same time, Saylor himself has previously repeatedly stated that he is ready to invest in crypto for at least a decade and is not going to sell it. It looks like Bukele will follow a similar strategy.


We think that El Salvador's response was quite logical. After all, the idea of recognizing Bitcoin as a means of payment belongs to the country's leadership, so abandoning it because of IMF criticism would not be the best decision. Now we have to wait for the reaction of the International Monetary Fund, and along with other countries that may also recognize BTC as a means of payment.

How will it end in the long run? Stay tuned to our millionaire cryptochat. We’ll talk about other topics related to decentralised assets there as well.