The Development Bank of El Salvador, BANDESAL, has refused to disclose the government’s Bitcoin purchase and sale records for the second time. This is according to an Oct. 31 tweet by the country’s Anti-Corruption Legal Advisory Center (ALAC).
Upon Congress’ approval, BANDESAL a $150 million trust fund — FIDEBITCOIN — to facilitate conversions from Bitcoin to U.S. dollars ahead of El Salvador’s adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender in September 2021.
ALAC requested that BANDESAL provide information on the grounds of fiduciary obligations, including the date and amount related to the purchase and sale of Bitcoins, the time of approval by FIDEBITCOIN board of directors, the current balance of FIDEBITCOIN accounts, crypto wallet addresses and account balances used by the government.
ALAC also requested the disclosure of information related to the governmental process of buying bitcoin and exchanges involved in the processes, the value of public funds that the government used to buy BTC and maintain Bitcoin-related projects, and a list of foreign contractors hired to help with the projects.
In a refusal statement, BANDESAL turned down ALAC’s request on the grounds that private information held by the state is confidential and public access is barred by constitutional and legal mandate.
