His administration had also taken advantage of price drops to buy the digital asset for the country.

The IMF was wary of the cryptocurrency’s adoption from the start, with spokesman Gerry Rice saying before Bukele made the move official, “Adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful analysis.”

In Tuesday’s statement from the board, they noted the fund supports the aim of “boosting financial inclusion” which could be advanced using the country’s “Chivo” e-wallet, but warned about the high levels of volatility in the cryptocurrency’s exchange rate.

Bitcoin’s value has shown some correlation with Wall Street equities, but pressure has also come from China’s crackdown on the trading and mining of cryptocurrencies, and also the risk of wider regulatory action from the likes of Europe and the United States.

Analysts also say it faces increased competition in 2022 from rival digital assets like ethereum.