Nations hold a lot of bitcoin, but they aren’t buying it

While over a dozen countries are known to own bitcoin, only one country, El Salvador, is confirmed to acquire their BTC through direct purchases.

Deciphering how much BTC a country owns is a special blend of playing the game of nation state intrigue and deciphering bureaucratic incompetence.

However one thing is for certain: most countries that do hold bitcoin didn’t buy it. They mined it or they seized it.

The sovereign bitcoin miners

• UAE (United Arab Emirates)

  • The UAE has amassed roughly 6,300 BTC (~$700 million), making it the fourth largest sovereign holder via a state-owned mining company Citadel Mining, which is also tied to the royal family.

• Bhutan

  • Bhutan is the standout case. Since 2019, its sovereign investment arm, Druk Holding and Investments, has leveraged its abundant hydroelectric power to mine bitcoin, and it now holds 10,565 BTC now worth $1.15 billion. The holdings are equivalent to almost 40% of the country’s entire GDP.

• Pakistan supposedly considered allocating 2,000MW of surplus electricity and El Salvador made headlines for “Volcano mining,” but there is little information available about these operations, and in the case of Pakistan, nothing has materialized.

The seizure states

• United States

  • According to Arkham, the U.S. government holds about 199,000 BTC worth ~$22 billion. Almost all of this bitcoin comes from notable criminal asset forfeitures such as the Silk Road, Bitfinex hacks, and FTX fallout. President Trump signed an executive order in early 2025 assigning these seized assets to the countries’ bitcoin stockpile, putting the USA at the top of the list of known bitcoin-holding sovereigns.

• United Kingdom

  • The UK holds roughly 61,000 BTC (~$7.3 billion), seized from large-scale money laundering and fraud operations such as the Jian Wen case. However the UK plans to liquidate the seized coins soon, so they may soon fall off this list.

• China

  • Estimates vary dramatically about China’s current holdings. At one point, China’s holdings were as high as 194,000 (~$21.19 billion) from the PlusToken scam alone, but China recently sold most or all of those bitcoins. Some data shows local Chinese governments collectively held 15,000 BTC (~$1.64 billion), which they appear to have been selling off via private entities amid regulatory ambiguity.

Other nation state bitcoin holders

• North Korea (via Lazarus Group)

  • Though not a sovereign seizure, the state-sponsored hacking collective Lazarus Group (and others) have stolen an estimated 13,500 BTC ($1.47 billion), although according to on-chain data it looks like they sold all but just over 800 BTC.

• Czech Republic

  • The Ministry of Justice became embroiled in scandal in mid‑2025 after receiving 468 BTC (~€40 million) from a criminal source, triggering resignations over legal and ethical concerns. The government presumably still holds the bitcoin, although it is unclear what the state will do with them.

Story ContinuesWhile the sovereigns aren’t smashing buy like Saylor, they’re rivaling his speed of accumulation. Overall, governments are known to own over 520,000 BTC compared to Strategy’s ~632,000 Perhaps when it sinks into the bureaucratic state morasse that they already own billions in BTC, the next step could be intentional acquisition by a sovereign (other than El Salvador).

The real inflection point won’t be when they decide not to sell, but when they decide to buy.

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