Why the IMF is silent with Trump and punished Bukele for his plans with Bitcoin?

When the Nayib Bukele government in El Salvador announced its strategy with Bitcoin, little time passed for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to jump to question the project. None of that has now happened with Trump.

The news that the small country in Central America became the first to declare BTC as legal tender currency lit the alarms of the international body. It was the year 2021, when the IMF warned Bukele about the «significant risks» involved in the digital currency.

The agency thus launched a first warning to El Salvador, showing its rejection of cryptocurrency and questioning the viability of the agreement That the country negotiated with the IMF, if Bukele insisted on promoting Bitcoin.

What followed below is known: after the resistance of the Salvadoran government to the imposition, the agreement arrived three years later, at the end of 2024. His signature implied changes in the Bitcoin Law and in Bukele’s strategy in El Salvador.

Throughout the negotiations, the IMF persisted in his idea that Bitcoin was left aside. The same did with other countries where digital currency was promoted or where its adoption is very high, such as the Central African and Argentina Republic.

Hence it is strange that the same does not happen with the United Statesthat now, under the mandate of Donald Trump, he is giving special prominence to this industry. From the inauguration of the Republican, last January, a flood of news accounts for the support of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The figure of a tsar of the cryptocurrencies in the White House arose, steps are taken to create a strategic reserve, the Bag and Securities Commission (SEC) dismisses demands against companies in the sector, the banks have green light to offer BTC, and in Congress they advance proposals for regulation. Despite this, The IMF is silent.

The IMF shows caution before Trump’s plans

When consulted last December on this subject, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozak, He refused to comment About the Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve Plan proposed by the then elected president.

At that time, Kozak only said that the International Monetary Fund would carry out an exhaustive evaluation of politics, only if it was implemented.

But, after a few months, for this date everything indicates that the National Reserve will be a reality, as well as the new favorable regulations. And although there are no plans for BTC to be legal tender, the government openly promotes the use of bitcoinas Nayib Bukele did in El Salvador.

Given this panorama, the press asked Kozac again on the subject, at a press conference offered at the beginning of this March.

Emphasis was placed on the contrast of reactions, because while El Salvador is forced not to accumulate BTC as a reserve, Trump openly advances in the creation of a strategic reserve in the US. UU.

«Could you comment on the American program or how would you differentiate both countries and why the IMF could be adopting a different approach?» Asks the official, who, «after giving a quick answer,» formulated the following:

Obviously, we are closely following the announcement of President Trump in this area. The presidential working group on digital asset markets has not yet completed its work. Therefore, we still do not have details about the implementation of this proposal, but we will inform them in due time.

Julie Kozack, Press Chief of the IMF.

In this way, it ensures that the IMF will set a clear position when the working group, which was created in the United States to evaluate cryptocurrency policies, Finish your task and present your report.

This is expected to pass 180 days after the signing of Trump’s executive order, so the pronouncement could happen Beyond half of this yearapproximately. A date on which even Congress and government agencies are scheduled to advance the promulgation of several laws.

If the US leaves the IMF, will they face Trump?

The official IMF position on Trump’s actions will be known then when the government plan is quite advanced. Something that suggests the reasons that lead to the agency to act more caution on this occasion.

To do this, it is important to take into account the role that the United States meets in this body.

As the IMF exposes in its official site, the Treasury Department leads the participation of the US government in the IMF, being USA. The biggest funder in the Fund.

With a share of participation of just over 16%, US political leaders have a strong influence on decision making.

It is even known that the United States has obtained loans in foreign currency of the IMF on 28 different occasions since its foundation in 1944. In 1978, some 3,000 million dollars were awarded in Germans and Yen Marcos to defend the dollar in the exchange markets.

In this context, the United States has constantly maintained a strong control on both the IMF and the World Bank.

Such a fact is highlighted in a Project Syndicate article, an international organization that groups almost 500 media around the world, in which it speaks of how «through the IMF, USA.

However, the publication recalls that, in the coming months, Trump I could withdraw the country from the International Monetary Fund or drastically trim your financing.

The threat gained strength in the executive order signed on February 4. There the president demands an exhaustive review of 180 days of all the international organizations to which the United States belongs and supports, as well as «all the conventions and treaties of which the United States is part.»

It is a directive that aligns with the objectives of the 2025 project created in 2023 by the Heritage Foundation, which they accuse of drawing the policies for the second Trump government. In it The IMF and the World Bank are dismissed as «expensive intermediaries» that «intercept» US financing before it reaches projects abroad.

In the opinion of some analysts, such a measure would disproportionately harm both countries that receive financial assistance and the United States itself. This, because it would reduce its ability to mold the rules of the global financial system and promote their strategic interests.

Although there are other specialists who consider that the repercussions could be so negativemainly because they would not undermine the power of the dollar.

Whatever the result, it is expected to arise A kind of pulse fight or a strategic alignment Between the agency and the US government, either to avoid the shock of its possible departure from the IMF or to face the government if it is withdrawn.

In this scenario the Bitcoin theme possibly comes up. It is important to take into account that the IMF guidelines suggest that states do not support the use of BTC, as Bikele did and as Trump is doing.

As cryptootics has reported, this is part of the recommendations that the IMF highlighted in a world regulation proposal that launched in 2021.

You put these cards on the table, what remains is to expect the pronouncement of the IMF before Trump’s plans, to know where this clash of visions will lead.