What concessions did El Salvador make in its BTC policy to obtain a $1.4 billion IMF loan?

After four years of negotiations and tug-of-war, El Salvador has finally reached a $1.4 billion loan protocol with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While it has obtained much-needed financial assistance, it also has to make concessions on BTC-related policies.

According to a statement issued by the IMF, the loan will be disbursed in installments over 40 months, and the Salvadoran government has agreed to promote a number of fiscal reforms, including improving fiscal balance, reducing the ratio of debt to GDP, in order to stabilize the economic foundation.

As part of the protocol, the Salvadoran government has also agreed to "reduce the amount of BTC purchases" and will no longer accept BTC for tax payments from the public, nor will it require merchants to accept BTC payments.

At the same time, the Salvadoran government will gradually reduce its involvement in BTC-related projects, including withdrawing from the management of the state-owned cryptocurrency wallet Chivo.

IMF stated that the potential risks of the BTC project will be significantly reduced, which is in line with the IMF's lending policies.

El Salvador made history in September 2021 by becoming the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, which triggered strong dissatisfaction from the IMF, leading to a downgrade in the country's credit rating, shattered investor confidence, and a temporary plunge in bond prices.

The external world believes that if this protocol is approved by the IMF Executive Board, it is expected to end the long-standing problem in the Salvadoran debt market, and also lead to additional assistance of 1 billion US dollars each from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

President Bukele said in August that since El Salvador transformed into a 'BTC country', it has benefited greatly, and the risks warned by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have not yet materialized. However, he also admitted that the popularity of BTC has not reached expectations.

As the first country in the world to attempt "BTC fiat monetization", El Salvador's every step has brought enlightenment to the development of global cryptocurrencies, but this concession and compromise have undoubtedly cast new variables for this financial revolution.

Can BTC rewrite the global financial landscape? This battle between freedom and order has just begun.

This article was first published in BlockVC. What concessions did El Salvador make on its BTC policy to obtain a $1.4 billion IMF loan?