El Salvador Increases Bitcoin Reserve to More Than $510 Million - Crypto Economy

TL;DR:

• El Salvador surpassed 7,680 BTC in its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve; current holdings are valued at more than $510 million.
• The country maintains a policy of purchasing approximately one bitcoin per day, adding more than 1,600 coins between January and April 2026.
• Acquisitions continue despite a $1.4 billion agreement with the IMF that urges the public sector to halt purchases.

El Salvador maintains its bitcoin accumulation policy without pauses or concessions. The Central American nation added a new unit to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, bringing the total to 7,687 BTC, equivalent to more than $510 million. The official strategy is summed up in four words the government repeats like a mantra: “buying the dip, every day“.

The logic behind the mechanism is straightforward: acquiring close to one bitcoin per day regardless of market conditions. Between January and April 2026, authorities added more than 1,600 coins to the national stack, following a scheme analysts compare to dollar-cost averaging applied at a sovereign scale. When the price of BTC approached $66,000, El Salvador did not sell or pause: it bought.


El Salvador Defies the IMF

The sustained accumulation is increasing tensions with the International Monetary Fund. Under the framework of a $1.4 billion financing agreement signed with the institution, the IMF urged the Salvadoran public sector to halt bitcoin purchases. The request went unheeded.

Last year, El Salvador passed an IMF review without having interrupted its acquisitions, raising questions about how both conditions can coexist. The institution went as far as to argue that part of the reported accumulation corresponds to movements of already existing coins, not net new purchases, a characterization the government rejects. The lack of transparency in the operational details of each purchase complicates independent verification of the figures, although the overall trend consistently points upward.

President Nayib Bukele has shown no signs of backing down. His public stance is that the country will not sell its holdings and that the reserve represents a long-term bet on the asset’s appreciation, not a speculative position subject to liquidation during price downturns.


The History Behind the Reserve

El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, becoming the first country in the world to do so. Although it later adjusted that status under IMF pressure, Bukele kept the accumulation policy active. The government reports bitcoin holdings alongside the country’s traditional reserves, and the president frequently uses unrealized gains as a political argument during bull market cycles.

The model has drawn interest from other governments and corporations studying the viability of similar programmatic accumulation strategies.