Governments around the world own 2.6% of the circulating supply of Bitcoin (BTC), amounting to 471,380.6 BTC worth $32.7 billion as of July 29, 2024. reported According to CoinGecko, the United States leads with 213,297 BTC ($14.82 billion), much of which was seized through criminal activity such as the shutdown of the Silk Road.
China follows with 190,000 BTC ($13.20 billion), mostly from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme. The UK comes in third, holding 61,000 BTC ($4.24 billion) from a money laundering operation.
El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, is actively buying 1 BTC daily, accumulating 5,800 BTC ($0.40 billion). Ukraine has received 1,336.4 BTC in military donations, with a current balance of 186.18 BTC ($12.93 million).
Germany recently liquidated its entire holdings of 46,359 BTC ($3.02 billion) seized from a pirate site in 2013. Notably, the sale caused the price of Bitcoin to drop by 15.7% between June 19 and July 12, which analysts at CoinGecko point to as an example of how government sell-offs can significantly impact prices in the cryptocurrency market.
Yesterday, the US government transferred over $2 billion in BTC seized from Silk Road to an unknown address. reported That was enough to send Bitcoin’s price plummeting by 1.3% in a matter of minutes and by 4.3% over the past 24 hours, according to Crypto Briefing.
Government crypto assets reflect a combination of law enforcement and financial strategies. As adoption of cryptocurrencies grows, more regulation and active purchases by governments are expected, potentially shaping the future of digital finance, the report notes.
