El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserve tops 7,800 coins despite IMF limits

El Salvador’s national Bitcoin reserve has moved past 7,800 coins. By October 16, holdings stood at 7,807 BTC, worth approximately $640–$650 million with Bitcoin trading around $82,000. That milestone lands in an odd spot. The country signed a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund that was supposed to curb exactly this kind of accumulation. The reserve kept growing anyway. The numbers behind the stack The growth traces back to a simple rule. El Salvador’s government has followed a policy of acquiring one BTC per day, a practice that began in September 2021. The more telling figure is what happened after the IMF arrived. When the IMF program started in early 2025, the reserve sat at roughly 6,070 BTC. Since then, holdings have grown by more than 1,700 BTC. Anyone can check these numbers. El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office publishes the wallet addresses that hold the reserve, which makes the country one of the most open sovereign holders of the asset. That matters more than it sounds. Most governments that hold Bitcoin, often from seizures, do not offer a live view of their balances. El Salvador effectively runs its treasury with the curtains open. The I...