Overview of the BTC National Strategic Reserve Rankings: Who Holds the Most Between China and the United States?

Author: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily

With less than two weeks until Trump takes office as President of the United States, he may announce a series of governance policies on his first day in office, January 20. Among the many speculations, the question of "Will Trump promote the establishment of a national strategic reserve for Bitcoin in the United States?" has become a focal point. Odaily Planet Daily has compiled information on the major countries currently holding Bitcoin to help readers gain an early understanding of the current basic situation of national strategic reserve plans for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin National Reserve Ranking: Four Tiers, Total Holdings Exceed 510,000 BTC

Overview of National BTC Reserve Data

Tier One: The United States and China Lead by a Wide Margin

First and foremost, we must mention the "big holders"—the United States currently holds 198,109 BTC, valued at $20.171 billion, accounting for approximately 0.94% of the total BTC supply; China holds 190,000 BTC, valued at $19.345 billion, with a holding ratio of about 0.91% of the total BTC supply.

It is worth noting that, according to information from the BitcoinTreasuries website, the U.S. government's BTC holdings all come from the previously seized assets of the Silk Road website. Trump had previously promised to release Silk Road founder Rose after taking office, which may also become a major topic of speculation. According to sources from the same website, China's BTC holdings may primarily originate from the PlusToken hacking incident that occurred in 2020, during which approximately 194,000 BTC were seized. Some believe that its BTC holdings may far exceed this number.

Tier Two: The United Kingdom and Ukraine Follow Closely

Compared to the first tier, the BTC holdings of the United Kingdom and Ukraine in the second tier have decreased by an order of magnitude.

The former holds 61,245 BTC, valued at approximately $6.24 billion. According to sources, this batch of BTC mainly comes from seized funds, which also originated from China.

In January 2024, according to British media Skynews, a woman who previously worked as a delivery driver in a Chinese restaurant was investigated after attempting to purchase a Hampstead mansion worth £23.5 million. Subsequently, the police seized Bitcoin worth over £1.4 billion. It is understood that 42-year-old Ms. Wen acted as a "front person" to help money launderer Qian Zhimin handle part of the profits from an investment fraud case in China that amounted to £5 billion between 2014 and 2017. At that time, British police seized 61,000 BTC. Later, according to on-chain data monitoring from the Arkham platform, the UK government purchased 245 BTC at an average price of $59,376 in September 2024, increasing its holdings to 61,245 BTC.

The latter holds 46,351 BTC, valued at approximately $4.72 billion. There is currently no accurate information regarding the specific source of Ukraine's BTC holdings; rather, it is based on results compiled from multiple channels. Ukraine began holding BTC on September 14, 2022, when the BTC price was only $20,185, representing an increase of over 400% compared to the current price above $100,000. Given the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in early 2022, we have reason to speculate that part of this holding may come from crypto donations.

Tier Three: Bhutan and El Salvador as Firm HOLDERS

Bhutan and El Salvador in the third tier resemble "national-level holding players."

The former's BTC holdings mainly come from the mining income of the Bhutanese royal family, currently holding over 11,000 BTC, valued at $1.19 billion. It is worth mentioning that the Bhutanese royal family is not a steadfast "diamond hand"; they have sold small amounts of BTC multiple times, including selling 420 BTC at around $98,000 and 103 BTC at around $97,000 last December.

Compared to Bhutan, El Salvador is more like a "firm believer in holding"—the country not only pioneered the implementation of a national strategic reserve plan for BTC but has also been consistently executing a plan to "buy one BTC daily"; additionally, there has been extra accumulation. The latest on-chain data shows that El Salvador's BTC holdings have grown to around 6,010 BTC, valued at $612 million.

Tier Four: Venezuela, Finland, and Georgia Hold Small Amounts

Countries in the fourth tier have seen their BTC holdings drop sharply to hundreds or even dozens of coins.

Venezuela, as a Latin American country, has long been plagued by inflation issues. There have been previous incidents involving the Venezuelan president using cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions, Venezuelan oil companies accelerating their embrace of USDT stablecoins, and Venezuelan authorities seizing over 11,000 Bitcoin mining machines and cutting off power to multiple mining sites. In September last year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado even proposed using Bitcoin as a national reserve asset. Currently, their holding source is reported by Forbes magazine.

Finland's BTC holdings once reached as high as 1,981 BTC, valued at nearly €7.5 million, primarily sourced from assets seized by Finnish customs during drug raids before 2018. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Finnish authorities sold 1,891 BTC, valued at $47.35 million at the time, with an average selling price of only around $23,000.

Georgia's BTC holdings have yet to find a specific source. According to information from the BitcoinTreasuries website, we only know that these 66 BTC were purchased in September 2022 at an average price of $20,185, with specific details still being a mystery.

Other Countries: Bulgaria and Germany as "Sell High, Always Profit"

In addition to the above countries, Bulgaria and Germany deserve special mention.

According to media reports, the former once seized over 200,000 BTC from criminals. It is understood that a regional organization consisting of 12 member countries, including Bulgaria, announced that a total of 213,519 BTC were seized that month, resulting in the arrest of 23 Bulgarian nationals. The arrests and subsequent asset seizures were made during an investigation into a customs fraud case. At that time, the BTC price was around $15,524, with a total value of about $3.3 billion. According to a media report in 2022, the funds were ultimately secretly sold by the Bulgarian government to Asian investors and sovereign wealth funds at an average price of around $16,900, totaling about $3.6 billion, with the raised funds mainly used to establish a new squadron for the Bulgarian military. Looking back, the Bulgarian government effectively "sold high" for around $17 billion, making it "the most expensive price in history."

The German government is another example of "sell high, always profit," and compared to the "historical" selling behavior of the Bulgarian government, it is undoubtedly a "fresher case."

In June 2024, the German government sold all 50,000 BTC seized from the piracy website Movie 2 k, with an average selling price of around $60,000, which at the time caused the BTC price to drop significantly by about 15%, triggering panic in the market. After BTC gradually broke new highs to around $108,000 following Trump's successful election as the next U.S. president, in some respects, the German government undoubtedly became "the biggest clown in the cryptocurrency field"—its selling funds exceeded $2.5 billion, with less than a six-month gap.

One cannot help but sigh that even a national entity may not be able to grasp "windfall wealth"; it truly is a matter of timing and fate.

Conclusion: The Establishment of a National Strategic Reserve for Bitcoin Requires Time

Recent news indicates that Dennis Porter, co-founder of the Satoshi Action Fund advocating for the establishment of a national strategic reserve for Bitcoin, stated that the 14th state in the U.S. is now preparing to introduce legislation for a "strategic Bitcoin reserve." Meanwhile, Simon Gerovich, CEO of the Japanese listed company Metaplanet, which saw its stock price surge after mimicking MicroStrategy's BTC reserve purchases, previously stated that if Trump adopts a Bitcoin strategic reserve, other Asian countries may follow suit.

Additionally, according to betting information from the well-known U.S. prediction platform Kalshi, the probability of Trump promoting the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve by January 2026 is currently reported at 53%, a significant drop from the peak of 67.6%.

At present, it seems that Trump still faces many challenges to fulfill his previous promises made at the Nashville Bitcoin conference. However, regardless, the continuous inflow of funds into BTC spot ETFs has become a certainty, and the process of cryptocurrency mainstreaming has gradually accelerated. The year 2025 will undoubtedly be an important year for the increase in cryptocurrency penetration.

Will the U.S. BTC holdings further increase? Will the U.S. Bitcoin strategic reserve be established soon? What will the specific operational model be?

Only time will tell us the final answer.