El Salvador Adds to Bitcoin Reserve, Holds ~7,600 BTC

El Salvador continued buying bitcoin as the cryptocurrency fell under $66,000, bringing its reported strategic reserve to roughly 7,600 BTC. At recent prices near $65,700 the holding is worth just over $510 million.

The government has followed a roughly one‑bitcoin‑per‑day acquisition policy. Officials added more than 1,600 coins between January and April. Early June estimates of the total reserve range from about 7,474 BTC to 7,667 BTC, depending on the reporting date and accounting method.

That steady accumulation occurred during price declines and after rallies in 2024 and 2025, leaving the treasury with an unrealized gain on paper. The purchases reported during the latest dip match the pattern of buying on price weakness rather than making a single large acquisition.

The country’s accumulation continued after a $1.4 billion financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund that changed part of El Salvador’s bitcoin framework by making acceptance optional for businesses instead of mandatory. The IMF has at times queried whether some movements represented transfers between government wallets rather than net purchases; the government rejects that view and maintains that purchases have continued.

Public accounting of the reserve is not fully granular. President Nayib Bukele has indicated the country may hold more bitcoin than some estimates show, citing multiple revenue streams that feed the fund. Because of daily buys, opportunistic purchases and limited public detail, reported totals can vary slightly between updates, though the reported trend has been upward.

El Salvador presents the bitcoin program as part of an effort to modernize financial services and attract investment. Crypto‑linked remittances totaled $17.38 million in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of nearly 50% from the same quarter a year earlier, but still under 1% of the country’s total remittance inflows. Critics warn that concentrating public funds in a volatile asset could expose a small, dollarized economy to outsized risk. The government says it will continue buying when prices weaken, keeping El Salvador among the most closely watched sovereign holders of bitcoin.