Members of a local Bitcoin community, gather in a local cafe in Berlin, El Salvador, January 24, 2024. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador's official digital bitcoin wallet Chivo will be sold or discontinued, an official said on Thursday, a day after the Central American country struck an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Stacy Herbert, director of the national bitcoin office, said the cryptocurrency would remain a legal tender and that the government would continue to buy it, possibly at an accelerated pace, for its strategic reserves.
On Wednesday, El Salvador struck a $1.4 billion loan deal with the IMF after agreeing that it would scale back its bitcoin policies. In 2021, the country became the first to make the cryptocurrency a legal tender.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)
