Glossary · deep dive

IMF

International Monetary Fund: a global institution that lends to countries and advises on their economic policy.

The International Monetary Fund lends to member countries and attaches policy conditions. In El Salvador's 2025 programme, the conditions included reforming the bitcoin law (Decreto 199, Jan 2025), so that accepting bitcoin became voluntary.

Takeaway: States can change laws about bitcoin, but not the Bitcoin protocol.