IMF warns of the risks of Bitcoin, while El Salvador says: we not only need to buy, but also need to buy faster!

As the first country in the world to legalize Bitcoin as a currency, El Salvador has always garnered attention for its exposure to Bitcoin. Despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to limit exposure to Bitcoin, El Salvador still stated on Thursday that it will continue to buy Bitcoin and may even accelerate the purchasing speed. Speeding up the acquisition of Bitcoin? Just on Wednesday, the government of El Salvador reached a financing agreement with the IMF. The IMF had previously stated multiple times that the country should limit its exposure to Bitcoin. However, Stacy Herbert, the director of El Salvador's national Bitcoin office, wrote on X on Thursday that Bitcoin will still be the legal tender in El Salvador and the government will continue to increase its strategic reserves. As part of a $1.4 billion loan agreement reached with the IMF on Wednesday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele agreed to reduce the scale of its Bitcoin policy. The agreement clearly states that El Salvador will only accept another official currency - the US dollar - for tax payments. Eugene Epstein, Managing Director of North American Trading and Structured Products at financial firm Moneycorp, stated that El Salvador's announcement to buy more Bitcoin may be just to hedge against the negative impact of Bitcoin's declining status in El Salvador. "Given the scale of the IMF agreement and possible terms, (Bukele's) actions may be justified." Still enthusiastically embracing Bitcoin El Salvador currently holds 5,968 coins, with a current market value of approximately $594 million. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to designate cryptocurrency as legal tender. However, this move has caused friction between the country and the International Monetary Fund, which has warned multiple times that El Salvador's actions will bring financial and legal risks. President Bukele has been promoting the country as a hub for facilitating digital currency transactions. Just last month, he held an "Adopting Bitcoin" conference. The country also has a "Bitcoin Beach," a surfing destination for tourists where businesses have started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. This article is reprinted from the public WeChat account "Finance Association," author: Liu Rui, GMTEight editor: Song Zhiying