Crypto intelligence platform Arkham in a revelation on Friday revealed that the United States (U.S.) government holds a large portion of BTC. According to the firm, other international States like the United Kingdom and Germany are part of the largest countries in terms of cryptocurrency holding.
More so, Arkham made the disclosure as it launched a new dashboard that tracks the crypto holdings of governments and countries around the globe. As revealed, individuals can leverage the new tool to track the real-life balance and transaction record of cryptocurrencies in the confers of government.
According to Arkham, the United States government is the biggest Bitcoin whale among countries as it has about 212,847 BTC which is worth up to $15 billion at press time. Likewise, the U.S. government has around $200 million worth of cryptocurrency like Ethereum and other top stablecoins like U.S.DT and U.S.DC.
Meanwhile, the UK government is listed second with 61,245 BTC which is worth up to $4.5 billion. Germany ranked third with 49,858 BTC valued at around $3.5 billion. The El Salvador government ranked fourth despite being the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender in 2021. As revealed, the Central American country holds 5,717 BTC worth about $405 million.
Side Note on the U.S. Government BTC Holdings
It is worth mentioning that news about the U.S. government’s Bitcoin holding first hit the media space late last year. Then, a renowned crypto firm, 21.co reported that the U.S. government has about 200,000 BTC in its coffers despite selling a portion of it during the year. In early 2023, the United States government sold about 9,118 BTC on Coinbase, which the cryptocurrency exchange confirmed in a public filing.
Before then, the United States government mostly sold its BTC through an auction system that was backed by court liquidation orders. In one of its auctions, billionaire Tim Draper bought 30,000 BTC from the U.S. government in 2014. Additionally, in the report, the firm revealed that the estimation is based on information available in the public space.
To gather the report, 21.co tracked the Bitcoin movement of the U.S. government wallets associated with the three largest BTC confiscations that date back to 2020. The seizures are the Silk Road confiscation of 69,369 BTC in November 2020, Bitfinex Hack impounding of 94,643 BTC in January 2022. Lastly, in March 2022, carried out the James Zhong expropriation of 51,326 BTC.