El Salvador President Nayib Bukele confirmed that the government transferred its ownership stake in Chivo Wallet, the digital wallet created in 2021 to promote bitcoin adoption, to a private operator. The president clarified that the transaction did not include the country’s strategic bitcoin reserve.
The government’s exit from Chivo’s ownership was announced in December 2024 and was expected to be completed in July 2025, although the Executive Branch had not publicly reported on its progress. The International Monetary Fund has now confirmed that ownership and operational control of the wallet were transferred to a private entity. According to the IMF, no public funds were used to accumulate bitcoin and, since the program’s first review in May 2025, new additions to the strategic reserve have come from private donations.