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Arkham’s Data Reveals that the US government is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin. An old article from Forbes confirms it.
According to data from Arkham, the government of the United States is among the largest holders of cryptocurrency. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, also hold significant chunks of crypto supplies.
It may seem like the U.S. government has a strong dislike for digital currencies due to the increasing federal crackdown on the cryptocurrency business. However, there is a complex relationship between the government and cryptocurrencies.
The U.S. Government Holds Substantial Amount of Bitcoins
A Forbes article in the middle of 2023 confirmed that the U.S. Treasury currently owns a vast hoard of 207,189 Bitcoins. This holding is worth approximately $5 billion, making it the largest state-owned collection of such digital assets.
Elementus, a New York-based crypto analytics startup, and the Morgan Creek portfolio company provided the research data. By comparing events such as the Justice Department’s 2020 seizure of $1 billion worth of bitcoin to the transactions visible on the public bitcoin blockchain, Elementus could map out sovereign digital wallets and maintain this map over time, as stated in the thesis.
Story Came out in 2020
Unlike many other countries that have been selling off their crypto assets, the U.S. has been consistently adding to its supply by seizing assets. According to new research presented exclusively to Forbes, in 2020, the U.S. held 69,640 bitcoins.
It is equivalent to 94% of the bitcoin in global government coffers at that time. The research was conducted by Sachin Jaitly, a general partner at investment advisor Morgan Creek Capital, as part of his doctoral thesis.
The U.S. Government is a Crypto Whale: Arkham
According to Arkham’s data, the U.S. government is the whale among global states it has tracked. Based on current prices, the country holds more than 212k BTC, worth around $15 billion.
Apart from BTC, the U.S. government also holds around $200 million in other cryptocurrencies like Ether (ETH), as well as major stablecoins like USDC. The second-ranked government on Arkham’s list is the U.K. government, which holds 61,245 BTC at the time of writing, worth around $4.5 billion.
The Salvadoran government holds $405 million worth of BTC, and a Queensland agency wants more powers to seize crypto. The U.S. government has continued to accumulate Bitcoin, with at least 5,000 BTC added since early 2023. These holdings come from confiscations related to Silk Road, hacker Jimmy Zhong, and the Bitfinex hackers.
Summary
The U.S. government holds a vast amount of cryptocurrency, equivalent to 94% of global government Bitcoin holdings. This information was revealed through research conducted by Sachin Jaitly, a general partner at Morgan Creek Capital. The unveiling of Arkham’s top government dashboard is a significant step towards revealing transparency in cryptocurrency assets owned by major players such as nation-states.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational purposes only. They do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading in stocks, cryptos or related indexes comes with a risk of financial loss.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast, with a major in macroeconomics and minor in business statistics. She believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks, and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning. She frequently researches, and posts content on the top altcoins, their theoretical working principles and technical price predictions.
