According to a new report from CoinGecko, government accounts hold 2.3% of the total Bitcoin supply. Collectively, their holdings amount to 463,741 BTC, a decrease from 529,591 less than a year ago.
Despite these impressive surface numbers, the general trend is in decline. Two of the seven holders completely liquidated their assets, and only El Salvador is actually buying more Bitcoin.
Are Governments Disposing of Bitcoin
Although corporations like MicroStrategy frequently attract substantial press attention for their gigantic Bitcoin holdings, governments also represent two of the 10 largest BTC whales.
CoinGecko found some interesting trends when it broke down all the relevant statistics. For example, only five nations currently maintain active Bitcoin holdings.
The US federal government is the largest national Bitcoin holder. Crypto has studied its behavior quite closely, and the industry is making major efforts to influence policy. The key issue is this: the US doesn’t purchase BTC, it seizes it in criminal operations.
Towards the end of Joe Biden’s Presidency, the country started to liquidate its BTC holdings, and this is a major motivating factor in Trump’s Crypto Reserve. The Reserve isn’t intended to purchase Bitcoin, but it organizes the existing stockpile and protects it from future sales.
China is something of an overlooked government Bitcoin holder, which can largely be attributed to two reasons. Obviously, China is somewhat hostile to crypto, and unverified rumors of policy liberalization can impact the market.
The country seized nearly 200,000 bitcoins in 2020 and hasn’t moved since. Thus, this large stockpile can escape mainstream notice.
The British government mirrors China’s Bitcoin strategy, keeping its substantial reserves in a holding pattern. Germany enacted a complete liquidation last year, bringing its substantial holdings to zero. It did this to cover a budget deficit, not for any anti-crypto ideological reasons.
Ukraine performed a similar total BTC liquidation to fund its ongoing war effort.
All the aforementioned government whales obtained their Bitcoin solely through criminal seizures, except for Ukraine, which accepted cross-border donations.
On the other hand, only two holders are actively trying to acquire it. Bhutan has attracted international attention for its BTC gains, but this comes from mining, and it has sold nearly half its supply in recent months.
In other words, El Salvador is the only government in the world building its Bitcoin supply. It agreed to stop BTC purchases to qualify for an IMF loan, but acquisitions continue. This generated some hostility within the country, but the IMF is apparently satisfied with its behavior.
This is to say that CoinGecko took a closer look at impressive numbers and found revealing conclusions. On paper, governments hold a massive supply of Bitcoin, but this trend is surprisingly fragile.
Only seven governments held BTC last year, and two of them have lost it since. A few political changes could totally change this environment.
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