El Salvador is not turning its back on Bitcoin (BTC), and the office that runs the country's crypto policy wants that on the record. The National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) issued a public rebuttal on Wednesday, September 30, after days of reports claimed the country — nearly five years after it became the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender — was preparing to pivot toward stablecoins.

In its response, the office reiterated that El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy remains in place and that the state's reserve currently stands at 7,790 BTC.

El Salvador's Bitcoin era began in September 2021, when the Bitcoin Law championed by President Nayib Bukele entered into force, making the Central American nation the first country to recognize a cryptocurrency as legal tender alongside the US dollar. The rollout included the state-backed Chivo wallet, and the government later unveiled plans for "Bitcoin City," a proposed development to be financed in part through bitcoin-backed bonds.

Since then, El Salvador has assembled one of the largest sovereign Bitcoin stockpiles, built up through recurring purchases that included a "1 BTC per day" accumulation program launched in November 2022. The ONBTC, created to steer the country's crypto policy, tracks the size of the national reserve on a public portfolio — the reference point for verifying state holdings like the 7,790 BTC cited in this week's rebuttal.

The accumulation has continued even as El Salvador scaled back parts of its Bitcoin framework under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached in late 2024. Under that program, acceptance of Bitcoin by private businesses became voluntary and the state's role in the Chivo wallet was wound down, but the government's own Bitcoin purchases did not stop. That split — a smaller public role for Bitcoin alongside an intact state stockpile — frames the dispute the ONBTC moved to settle with Wednesday's statement.

Stablecoins have nonetheless played a visible role in El Salvador's broader digital-asset strategy. In January 2025, stablecoin issuer Tether announced it would relocate its home base to the country after obtaining a license under El Salvador's digital asset services framework — a sign that the country's licensing framework extends to stablecoin issuers even as officials reject any shift in the Bitcoin reserve itself.

With Wednesday's rebuttal, the ONBTC put it on the record that El Salvador's Bitcoin reserve strategy remains unchanged.

This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/el-salvador-denies-stablecoin-shift-bitcoin-reserve-7790