The International Monetary Fund has come to an agreement with El Salvador to give the country $1.4 billion as the first installment of $3.5 billion to help support the country’s economy. The agreement is, however, subject to the approval of the IMF’s executive board and contains some changes relating to bitcoin including, making it optional for the private sector to accept bitcoin and reducing the role of the public sector in the cryptocurrency.
However, the government of El Salvador has shown that it is still determined to embrace the bitcoin policy. Stacy Herbert, the Director of the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) said that bitcoin will remain legal tender and that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will be increased. The government also revealed the acquisition of one more bitcoin thus taking the total number of coins to 5,968. With bitcoin rising to $108,268.45 per unit in the recent market, the reserve value has reached more than $642 million with 140% return on investment and $370 million in unrealized gains.
Besides of the current activities, such as education programs, training of civil servants on bitcoin, and developing capital the market, the global confidence in El Salvador’s bitcoin assets has also improved the bond prices of the country thus strengthening its financial standing and putting it in the forefront of countries that accept bitcoin.