President Nayib Bukele has rejected claims that El Salvador handed control of its strategic bitcoin reserve to a private operator, calling the reports "totally false." He says only shares in Chivo Wallet were transferred, not the country's bitcoin holdings.
Bukele pushed back hard on Saturday after reports claimed El Salvador had ceded its sovereign bitcoin reserve to a private company. He said the coverage misrepresented an IMF press release and accused the outlets involved of lying to their readers.
El País, a major Spanish newspaper, claimed on social media that El Salvador had transferred majority ownership and control of more than 7,763 cryptocurrencies, valued at over $632 million, to a private operator, citing an IMF press release as its source. Bukele rejected the claim outright, calling it "totally false."
He argued the IMF release said the opposite — that only Chivo Wallet shares changed hands, not the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve itself, an arrangement he said was offered a year and a half earlier. The IMF also praised El Salvador's economic record, noting that economic activity has outperformed expectations while fiscal and external imbalances are being addressed in line with program commitments. Bukele pointed to the same assessment, saying the country has achieved a primary fiscal surplus and exceeded economic growth expectations, crediting security and investor confidence alongside a reduction in poverty.
Bukele did not address separate IMF statements linking the country's bitcoin accumulation to private donations, even as the strategic reserve has already reached over 7,766 BTC. The fund said it does not expect further accumulation, but El Salvador has kept adding bitcoin to its holdings since that assessment.
Source: Bitcoin.com News
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
