How many bitcoins are in wallets controlled by the authorities of different countries? How states became some of the world's largest cryptocurrency holders

As a result of the seizure of assets from criminals, states became one of the largest holders of the main cryptocurrency. While investors buy Bitcoin on the open market by investing real money, governments are more likely to obtain Bitcoin by confiscating “digital gold.”

Of all the Bitcoin-holding countries, only El Salvador is actively buying Bitcoin (since 2021), and also mining the cryptocurrency as part of the Volcano Energy government initiative, which uses geothermal sources as energy.

According to the message of the President of El Salvador, Naibu Bukele, who published the official state Bitcoin address, there are more than 5.8 thousand BTC in the account of the country that has accepted BTC as a means of payment.

Neither the US, nor China, nor the UK, nor Germany have ever officially purchased cryptocurrency. However, thanks to seizures from criminals, governments of major countries have been able to amass crypto assets worth billions of dollars.

Confiscated goods market
The total crypto reserves of states are estimated at approximately 560.7 thousand BTC (more than $32.2 billion), according to the Bitcointreasuries service, which tracks public information and official statements from regulators.

The list of Bitcointreasuries includes Ukraine and China - these countries accounted for more than 236 thousand BTC ($13.5 billion). The compilers of the rating list 46,351 thousand BTC for Ukraine, but obviously these are the assets of civil servants as individual individuals, and not the state itself. At least this is the number of bitcoins - 46 thousand 351 - previously indicated in the declarations of Ukrainian civil servants.

China is listed second on the list of Bitcointreasuries, with reserves estimated at 190 thousand BTC.  In 2020, Chinese authorities seized 195 thousand BTC and a number of other cryptocurrencies from the PlusToken financial pyramid in 2020. At the same time, it was officially announced that the seized assets would be sold and the proceeds transferred to the state treasury, The Block reported. There were no other statements, as well as data from the blockchain confirming any movements of coins



The United States is considered the largest holder of Bitcoin among all countries. Accounts controlled by the country's authorities contain 213.2 thousand BTC, as well as 50.5 thousand ETH, almost $122 million in USDT stablecoin, etc., according to the Arkham analytical platform.

Most of the bitcoins were obtained by the United States as part of the confiscation of assets from the accounts of the first darknet market for prohibited goods, Silk Road, which was closed in 2013.

Silk Road is the first anonymous marketplace for trading illegal goods, including drugs and fake documents. Bitcoin was used for mutual settlements on the platform. Drug turnover during the operation of the site exceeded $210 million. Its founder, Ross Ulbricht, received a life sentence in the United States in 2014.

The UK took third place in the Bitcointreasuries ranking. The size of its reserves is estimated at 61 thousand BTC. That's how many bitcoins were seized by authorities in January 2024.

Germany is also on the list of the largest bitcoin-holding countries. In early 2024, authorities confiscated 50,000 coins associated with the activities of a pirate site that violated the Copyright Law in 2013.

In June 2024, according to Arkham, the German government began moving funds. Through several outgoing transactions to Bitstamp, Coinbase and Kraken, 40.3 thousand BTC remained in the German government addresses studied. The last known series of transfers occurred on July 4, 2024 and amounted to 3 thousand BTC.

In addition to the countries described above, the Bitcointreasuries service noted small reserves of the first cryptocurrency in Bhutan (621 BTC), Venezuela (240 BTC), Finland (90 BTC) and Georgia (66 BTC).

Thus, the total balance of confiscated Bitcoin in “state accounts” significantly exceeds the balance of MicroStrategy, which publicly invested $7.6 billion in BTC, purchasing about 215 thousand BTC.

Who buys confiscated coins and at what prices?
Most often, governments report sales after the fact, and it is not known for certain who and when exactly buys confiscated bitcoins. Like the Chinese authorities, the US did not disclose Bitcoin buyers, only general information. Although American authorities are still publishing more information about the progress of sales.

Since 2014, the US Marshals Service has been selling seized bitcoins through closed auctions. However, at the end of June it became known that the USMS, part of the Department of Justice, which is responsible for asset forfeiture, chose Coinbase Prime to store and trade confiscated cryptocurrency.

Coinbase Prime is a brokerage platform that allows you to store, buy, sell and invest in cryptocurrencies. It is also the primary partner for the vast majority of spot crypto ETFs.

According to a Coinbase press release, Prime will provide USMS with cryptocurrency storage and trading services. No other details on this matter have been published.