Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
With less than two weeks until Trump takes office as President of the United States, he may announce a series of governance policies on his first day in office, January 20. Among the many speculations, the question of "Will Trump promote the establishment of a national strategic reserve of Bitcoin in the US?" has become a focal point. Odaily Planet Daily has compiled the current holdings of Bitcoin by major countries to help readers gain an early understanding of the basic situation of the Bitcoin national strategic reserve plan.
Bitcoin National Reserve Rankings: Four Tiers, Total Holdings Exceed 510,000 BTC
Overview of National BTC Reserve Data
First Tier: The US and China Lead by a Wide Margin
First and foremost, we must mention the "big holders" — the United States currently holds 198,109 BTC, valued at $2.0171 billion, accounting for approximately 0.94% of the total BTC supply; China holds 190,000 BTC, valued at $1.9345 billion, with a holding ratio of about 0.91% of the total BTC supply.
It is worth noting that according to BitcoinTreasuries website information, the US government's BTC holdings all come from the seized assets of the Silk Road website, and Trump had previously promised to release Silk Road founder Rose after taking office, which may also become a major topic of speculation; according to the same website, it is speculated that the Chinese government's BTC holdings may primarily stem from the PlusToken hacking incident that occurred in 2020, where approximately 194,000 BTC were seized, and some believe that their BTC holdings may far exceed this number.
Second Tier: The UK and Ukraine Follow Closely
Compared to the first tier, the BTC holdings of the UK and Ukraine in the second tier have decreased by an order of magnitude.
The UK holds 61,245 BTC, valued at approximately $6.24 billion. According to source feedback, this batch of BTC primarily comes from seized funds, which also originated from China.
In January 2024, according to UK media Skynews reports, a woman who previously worked as a delivery driver at a Chinese restaurant was investigated after attempting to purchase a £23.5 million Hampstead mansion, leading to the police seizing Bitcoin worth over £1.4 billion. It is understood that 42-year-old Ms. Wen acted as a "front person" to help money launderer Qian Zhimin handle part of the profits from an investment fraud case in China that amounted to £5 billion between 2014 and 2017. At that time, the UK police seized 61,000 BTC. Subsequently, according to Arkham platform on-chain data monitoring, the UK government purchased 245 BTC at an average price of $59,376 in September 2024, increasing its holdings to 61,245 BTC.
Ukraine holds 46,351 BTC, valued at approximately $4.72 billion. There is currently no accurate information regarding the specific source of Ukraine's BTC holdings, which are based on statistics from multiple sources. Ukraine began holding BTC on September 14, 2022, when the BTC price was only $20,185, representing an increase of over 400% compared to the current price above $100,000. Considering the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in early 2022, we have reason to speculate that this holding may partially come from crypto donations.
Third Tier: Bhutan and El Salvador as Firm HOLDERS
Bhutan and El Salvador in the third tier are more like "national-level holding players."
Bhutan's BTC holdings primarily come from the mining income of the Bhutanese royal family, currently holding over 11,000 BTC, valued at $1.19 billion. It is worth mentioning that the Bhutanese royal family is not a steadfast "diamond hand"; they have sold small amounts of BTC multiple times, including selling 420 BTC at around $98,000 and 103 BTC at around $97,000 last December.
In contrast to Bhutan, El Salvador is more like a "firm believer in holding" — the country not only pioneered the implementation of a BTC national strategic reserve plan but has also been consistently executing a plan to "buy one BTC daily"; additionally, they have made extra purchases. Latest on-chain data shows that El Salvador's BTC holdings have grown to around 6,010 BTC, valued at $612 million.
Fourth Tier: Venezuela, Finland, and Georgia Hold Small Amounts
Countries in the fourth tier have seen their BTC holdings drop sharply to hundreds or even dozens of BTC.
Venezuela, as a Latin American country, has long been plagued by inflation issues. There have been previous incidents such as Venezuelan President using cryptocurrency to evade US sanctions, Venezuelan oil companies accelerating the embrace of USDT stablecoin, and Venezuelan authorities seizing over 11,000 Bitcoin mining machines and cutting off power to multiple mining sites. In September last year, opposition leader María Corina Machado even proposed using Bitcoin as a national reserve asset. Currently, their holding source is reported by Forbes magazine.
Finland's BTC holdings previously peaked at 1,981 BTC, valued at nearly €75 million, primarily sourced from assets seized by Finnish customs during drug raids before 2018. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Finnish authorities sold 1,891 BTC, which were valued at approximately $47.35 million, selling at an average price of around $23,000.
Georgia's BTC holdings have not yet found a specific source; according to BitcoinTreasuries website, we only know that these 66 BTC were purchased in September 2022 at an average price of $20,185, with specific information still being a mystery.
Other Countries: Bulgaria and Germany as "Sell High, Always Profit"
In addition to the above countries, it is worth mentioning Bulgaria and Germany separately.
According to media reports, the former seized over 200,000 BTC from criminals. It is understood that a regional organization composed of 12 member countries, including Bulgaria, announced that a total of 213,519 BTC were seized that month, leading to the arrest of 23 Bulgarian nationals. The arrests and subsequent asset seizures were conducted during an investigation into a customs fraud case. At that time, the BTC price was around $15,524, with a total value of about $3.3 billion. According to a media report from 2022, the funds were ultimately secretly sold by the Bulgarian government to Asian investors and sovereign wealth funds at an average price of about $16,900, totaling about $3.6 billion, with the raised funds primarily used to establish a new squadron for the Bulgarian military. In hindsight, the Bulgarian government effectively "sold high" for around $17 billion, making it "the most expensive price in history."
The German government is another example of "sell high, always profit," and compared to the "historical" selling behavior of the Bulgarian government, it is undoubtedly a "fresher case."
In June 2024, the German government will sell all 50,000 BTC seized from the pirated movie website Movie2k, with an average selling price of around $60,000. This action caused a significant drop in BTC prices by about 15%, triggering panic in the market. After BTC gradually broke new highs to around $108,000 following Trump's successful election as the next President of the United States, in the eyes of those in the crypto industry, the German government undoubtedly became the "biggest clown in the cryptocurrency field" — its sell-off resulted in over $2.5 billion in losses, with less than six months between the two events.
One cannot help but sigh that even a national entity may not be able to grasp "sudden wealth"; it truly reflects the interplay of timing and fate.
Summary: The establishment of a national strategic reserve for Bitcoin will take some time
Latest news indicates that Dennis Porter, co-founder of the Satoshi Action Fund advocating for the establishment of a national strategic reserve for Bitcoin, stated that the 14th state in the US is now preparing to introduce "strategic Bitcoin reserve" legislation. Meanwhile, Simon Gerovich, CEO of the Japanese listed company Metaplanet, which saw its stock price surge by emulating MicroStrategy's BTC reserve purchases, previously stated that if Trump adopts a Bitcoin strategic reserve, other Asian countries may follow suit.
Additionally, according to betting information from the well-known US prediction platform Kalshi, the probability of Trump promoting the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve by January 2026 is currently reported at 53%, a significant drop from the peak of 67.6%.
At present, it remains to be seen whether Trump can fulfill his previous promises made at the Nashville Bitcoin Conference, as he will face many challenges. However, the continuous inflow of funds into BTC spot ETFs has become a certainty, and the process of mainstreaming cryptocurrencies is gradually accelerating. The year 2025 will undoubtedly be an important year for the increase in cryptocurrency penetration.
Will the US BTC holdings further increase? Will the US Bitcoin strategic reserve be established soon? What will the specific operational model be?
Only time will tell us the final answer.
Recommended reading:
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
