Fuck the IMF

I would rather fail at trying to change the world, than acquise to this one

Make the IMF irrelevant

Recent changes to Bitcoin policy in El Salvador... - Bitcoin is no longer legal tender (effective 30 April) - The govt can no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for anything (effective 30 April) - the govt can not 'accumulate' bitcoin in any way, this includes stopping any public mining (effective unknown) - the govt will have to dox all their bitcoin address and holdings (to the IMF for sure, unclear if this will be made public as well) - Chivo, the govt bitcoin app, will be wound down (by end of June) the reason? El Salvador is heavily in debt, which contrary to govt posturing, has INCREASED significantly in recent years and as a lender-of-last-resort the IMF was able to attach basically whatever conditions they wanted to the loan the future? Bitcoin never needed this govt or any other govt. It should be as clear as ever that if we want a better world, it is up to us to create it. Support independent & impartial bitcoin education

According to the IMF, El Salvador is still compliant with the loan agreement--which prohibits spending public money (buying) or resources (mining) to accumulate new Bitcoin Yet more Bitcoin is added every day to the public wallet I see two possibilities 1. The govt is transferring Bitcoin from their undisclosed (to the public, but disclosed to the IMF) wallets into their public one 2. Some private entity is donating to the public wallet--perhaps Tether In both possibilities El Salvador is trying to walk the tightrope of actually complying with the IMF but projecting an image of defiance & independence to the public I still think the best action would have been for President Bukeke to just talk directly & honestly with his nation Though, I'm an idealist who thinks we can reimagine our world and build a better one. For a politician trying to be popular in the present, marketing sometimes matters more than truth--which seems to be the conclusion he came to on this issue And, sadly, he is very likely correct in the assumption that the false viral message of defiance will spread much faster and farther than a complicated and nuanced truth

question authority. always. blindly trust authority. never.

Okay, the govt of El Salvador is directly contradicting itself regarding how Bitcoin policy will change as a result of a loan agreement with the IMF Let me show you. I brought receipts Yesterday the IMF released a detailed (111 page) document outlining the agreement and supporting documentation This includes a Letter of Intent (LOI) from, and signed by, the government of El Salvador dated Feb 11th. It outlines various financial reforms they intend to make as part of them asking for an IMF loan [screenshot1/ pages 68-69]. The El Salvador govt details the changes they are proposing, including the line "....as per agreement with the IMF, we will no longer accumulate new Bitcoins in our portfolio." [screenshot 2/ page77] Clear definitions of what is considered 'the public sector' as well as a mandate prohibiting ANY new bitcoin accumulation (except via seizure) is additionally outlined [screenshot3/ page89] That was released yesterday. Today, seemingly in response to Bitcoiners reading the agreement and pointing out various changes that were agreed upon, the president tweeted that Bitcoin accumulation is 'not stopping' [screenshot4] So, WTF is happening? The El Salvador govt is disagreeing with itself--simultaneously saying they will stop accumulating Bitcoin AND that it is 'not stopping' It's impossible for both to be true

The 111 page report the IMF released last night about it's recent loan agreement with El Salvador gives A LOT of details and clarity Not only will El Salvador have to stop buying Bitcoin, they will also have yo stop mining Bitcoin this is the first time I've seen the prohibition on public Bitcoin mining here

father son hiking ❤️ San Salvador volcano

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY 31 since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) I’ve been posting a lot about the IMF deal and it’s mostly negative from the perspective of anyone who wants to only cheerlead Bitcoin or El Salvador I want to make a few things clear There are great things happening here and that will continue to happen regardless of this IMF deal. I’m happy to be here The changes I’ve seen first-hand since moving here in August 2021 (one month before the Bitcoin Law went into effect) have been incredible and mostly positive. It feels like history is being written in real time and Salvadorians are generally optimistic about the future—a rare thing in this modern world That is NOT a reason to be quiet when things begin to fall off track. That is a reason to speak up, which is exactly what I am doing and will continue to do If you care about the future of El Salvador, then you should be a critical observer of it and do your best to help it continue on a positive path. Pretending everything is perfect, all the time, does not help this nation nor does it help Bitcoin

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY 27 since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) In 2022 President Bukele announced El Salvador would buy a Bitcoin a day, every day In 2023 the govt created a page where the public could verify those daily purchases, and every single day, like clockwork, one was added On January 25, 2025 nothing was added to the total for the first time ever Why is that interesting? On December 18, 2024 the IMF announced a draft loan agreement with El Salvador which included various pre-conditions that the govt would have to conform to BEFORE the agreement could become official and the the first payments would begin, including many changes to how the nation would treat Bitcoin (including quietly repealing it as legal tender on Jan 29, 2025) So the automatic buying stopped on January 25th. More Bitcoin has been added to that balance since, though its been sporadic and inconsistent. This week 7 days passed without any new bitcoin added to El Salvador's public wallet and just as people were starting to notice and ask questions, El Salvador added 7 bitcoin Why is this even more interesting? The primary question people began asking was: did the IMF loan affect the one Bitcoin per day auto-buy program? If there was a policy change or technical issue that could have been addressed easily. But maybe the president didn't even know people were asking these questions, you may say. Nope. He heard those doubts and rumors, as evidenced by his tweet yesterday. That is certain. So then, he made a choice to NOT answer them directly Why? Why would he turn this into a loyalty test rather than actually answer the question? Another bit of important context is that the Govt holds Bitcoin outside of this public wallet. I have personally paid the govt bitcoin numerous times for things like my entry fee at the airport or getting my residency. In addition the govt has (had?) a program called 'Freedom Passports' which they sold for Bitcoin, for the equivalent of 1 million USD, and I know various people who made that purchase. Plus they mine Bitcoin in small quantities. Point is the govt has an unknown amount of Bitcoin that exists outside of that one public address I see two broad possibilities 1. El Salvador has stopped buying Bitcoin, but they don't want to admit that. If they wanted to manipulate opinion about this the most obvious thing would be to slowly transfer Bitcoin from thier private stock to the public wallet to make it seem like they were still buying--this would explain why the President won't directly address these doubts. However, if that was the case why wouldn't they just drip one per day? That'd be easy and would draw the least attention 2. The president WANTS attention on that wallet and doubts to surface and fester because the IMF deal will not in fact stop the one-per-day program. In this scenario doubts are very publicly proven to be unfounded and those that questioned him proven to be publicly wrong. This would explain why the purchases are sporadic (which will predictably draw attention) and more importantly why he framed yesterdays buy as a loyalty test of faith Either way, President Bukele doesn't want you to look too closely at the IMF deal--that's about the only thing that is clear. We should be asking why not?

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY TWENTY FIVE since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) It's been six days since El Salvador has bought bitcoin The nation launched a program to purchase one bitcoin per day in 2022 and had not missed a day until last month. Since then, the buying has been sporadic with some days missed--with this current six day streak the longest yet Is this related to the IMF deal? Almost definitely The govt has not commented at all on the IMF deal (in sharp contrast to the media tour President Bukele did in the days after Bitcoin was made legal tender in 2021) and thus we are reliant on best guesses from verifiable information The draft agreement with the IMF states "For the public sector, engagement in Bitcoin-related economic activities and transactions in and purchases of Bitcoin will be confined." That combined with the erratic bitcoin purchases since last month make it seem increasingly likely that the IMF deal will affect this program On a related note regarding the govt accumulating Bitcoin--they had accepted bitcoin as payment for things such as the airport tax or even to purchase a passport. I don't believe the address of where that Bitcoin is stored has ever been made public so it will be more difficult to observe if and when that stops but most or all of that will cease if it hasn't already as that condition is clear in the IMF draft agreement: "Taxes will only be paid in U.S. dollars..." The IMF deal is not yet official, El Salvador is currently in the process of conforming to the pre-conditions set out in the draft agreement. Unless the govt finds it's voice on this matter, we will only be able to determine the consequences of it with time and careful observation

are we trying to make USD more convenient/ accesible? OR are we trying to replace USD with censorship resistant money? I'm def here to replace the dollar with decentralized money. That's the world I'm building toward

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY TWENTY TWO since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) I had committed myself to post every day for at least 21 days, which has now passed so I may skip days going forward....but there remains A LOT of confusion about core details (why? what lead to this? how do IMF loans work? how can we do better? what is legal tender? what will the money be used for? what other changes are coming? etc.) so I will continue to post about this To try and clarify some timing issues.... The revision of the 2021 Bitcoin Law is NOT yet in effect, that will happen on 30 April The IMF loan agreement is NOT yet in effect, right now El Salvador is working to meet the pre-conditions and only once they are all met will it go into effect--date unknown there but def in 2025 More changes will come as not all public conditions the IMF set have been met yet. There are potential private, unknown conditions as well Unless the govt finds its voice and gives clarity, I expect there will continue to be a lot of confusion around this deal and the consequences of it and clarity will only come with time--likely measured in months and years rather than hours and days

speak truth to power

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY TWENTY since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) This makes independent, decentralized bitcoin education even MORE important In Nov 2023 @My First Bitcoin hosted the first ever Educators Unconference And it has since spread around the world What is it? It is empowerment manifest as a bitcoin conference, with a common theme of how to best empower and educate others It is decentralized It is intimate, max 150 people, and the schedule is decided by EVERYONE at the start of the day. All who have something to share can speak for 45 seconds about what they want to discuss. Those with the most interest will be assigned a time and space to lead a conversation on their expertise, while combining people with overlapping topics It is also an explicitly non-commercial space where nothing is for sale and ideas are given away. There are no sponsors & no fundraising. The event runs as breakeven, entirely supported by ticket sales The next one will be at @bitcoinpark_ in Nashville on April 10th (this is during 'grassroots week' there so come for a few days) This is how we build a global, unstoppable movement Join us More info and tickets here: https://bitcoinunconference.com/

Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY NINETEEN since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) This is bad news for top-down bitcoin adoption But this makes grassroots, decentralized, community adoption even more important I want to highlight the Independent Bitcoin Educators Node Network which was launched by @My First Bitcoin in March 2023 and is now self governing, involving more than 60 projects from over 30 nations around the world who are building an alternative future together It is the most inspiring thing happening in the Bitcoin space today and the most likely emerging framework that could actually reimagine the future world In order to apply you must agree to the six consensus rules; that the education be: independent, impartial, community-led, Bitcoin-only, quality, and focus on empowerment The entire network uses the @MyfirstBitcoin_ Diploma and other open-source educational materials focused on bringing new people into the space in a way that teaches them 'how to think' rather than 'what to think' Every month we get together for a virtual General Assembly where we all share updates on whats happening with each node around the world and find ways to collaborate with each other. It is a real life manifestation that we are more than the sum of our parts. It transforms projects that otherwise may be isolated silos into integral pieces of a global, decentralized movement It is a revolution And like Bitcoin itself, it doesn't care what politicians, governments or international financial institutions do It is not just a theory, but a proof-of-concept that we can build global decentralized systems that empower its participants. It is what the future could look like--a radical reimagining of power And it is growing. The most recent block, which comes once a month, added six new nodes around the world More info on how the network functions and how you can apply to join here...

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Good morning from El Salvador We are now in DAY EIGHTEEN since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) Decentralized, grassroots bitcoin education and adoption is now more important than ever Yesterday I wrote about how @My First Bitcoin has doubled their 2025 goal to 21,000 students taught in El Salvador this year But that's not all. We will increase ALL of our efforts @myfirstbitcoin_ has been having education-focused grassroots meetups for over 3 years, always the last Thursday of the month in San Salvador We now host meets in the capital each Tuesday and, starting next week, are launching meetups in three new cities spread around the country—Santa Ana, San Miguel & Zacatecoluca The revolution will be bottom up. Join us

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We are now in DAY SEVENTEEN since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective 30 April) The lack of transparency around the process and terms is a major problem and a symptom of a world in which small, elite, opaque groups decide for the rest of us. I’m talking about international financial organizations such as the IMF as well as national governments such as El Salvador If we want a better world, we need to do things differently @My First Bitcoin TValready announced that we are hiring new teachers and doubling our goal—teaching 21,000 students just in El Salvador just in 2025. But it’s not just about numbers. A better world will care about empowering the individual, not just dictating to them, and it will be more transparent. Here is our vision document for our Education Department, approved on Feb 7, 2025— Vision for the Education Department Mi Primer Bitcoin is not focused on bitcoin education, that is just a means to an end. The real goal is to empower. The real goal is to reimagine what’s possible. Bitcoin education is the best tool humanity has to not only allow the individual to take more control over their money, but in doing so to take more control over their own life, which in turn gives them more control over their own future, which finally leads to a shift in perspective and incentives—toward building, creating and learning. The question then becomes, knowing this end goal, how do we best create an Education Department to facilitate this mission? Focus. Within bitcoin education, what focus best helps achieve that end? Introductory bitcoin education, rather than advanced, is where we can do the most good and where students are the most malleable toward embracing this paradigm shift. It is the best opportunity to help put students on the path to believe that Bitcoin is more than just a new money, more than just a new technology, more than just a new investment. These students, new to bitcoin, are the ones we should focus on. Reject trying to do too much. We need to have a core, which right now is the Bitcoin Diploma and the Intro Course and may eventually expand to the introductory education for younger audiences. This does not mean we can’t create or use other materials, and this doesn’t mean that our core won’t evolve over time, but it does mean that we need to prioritize our finite resources on core products before all else. Teach them how to think, rather than what to think. The real objective in all of this is to empower the student and that means we can give them the information and prompt the right questions, but they have to be the ones to answer them. This is NOT the norm in education, including bitcoin education, as it is slower and harder—but it is essential to our mission. Always be independent and impartial. Even in the bitcoin space, very little education is independent and impartial, and that threatens to derail the tremendous potential of bitcoin education as a tool to think differently, to think independently, and as a true alternative to fiat. For us to succeed in our mission to allow students to come to their own conclusions we must be vigilant not just that we are actually independent and impartial, but also that the perception of the organization is. Our success here thus far has helped both the community and our students trust us, support us and help us grow. It’s taken years to build up that trust, but it can be destroyed in a day if we lose this value. Inspire others to join the movement, rather than try to absorb them into ourselves. This is not just about empowering students, or rather, our perspective must be that we are all students. This means we must open source everything—not just the materials but also the processes and philosophies. This also means we need to create spaces to collaborate and share best practices, encouraging collaboration from outside the project as well. We should never try to ‘control’ others, but rather inspire.