Governments Are Stacking Bitcoin – U.S., Pakistan, El Salvador…

[Popkon6]

The U.S. now holds over 200K BTC in a national reserve. Pakistan launched its own reserve in May 2025. El Salvador continues daily accumulation and now holds ~6,000 BTC.

Are we witnessing the start of a global Bitcoin arms race?
A turning point — or a silent takeover?

Bitcoin Holdings All countries that have legalized Bitcoin and introduced strategic reserves have been holding Bitcoin for a long time. Not only Pakistan, there are countries that are able to become economically self-sufficient by accepting Bitcoin as a strategic reserve.


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El Salvador has 6271.18 Bitcoins, but I can say that all countries and treasury companies that are holding Bitcoin will be at the top of the most success in the future. Because Bitcoin is the only one that can be successful the fastest, as evidenced by El Salvador and Microstrategy company.

[pooya87]

Are you sure these coins (regardless of what the correct number is) are held as "national reserve" and not just as regular seized assets where the federal government seizes from criminals and eventually auctions when the court process is over?
The difference is fundamental...

Spot on. But I don't see the liquidation of these coins. They should be part of the great dreams of making America great again, they don't do that then they're not preparing for the future. I've seen Potus advocating for this severally. Even if these coins are to be auctioned and liquidated,  I don't see it happening under these government. Finally, countries with a Bicton reserve should take inspiration from El Salvador and stack up these sats. I'm impressed with how consistent Bitcoin accumulation from over the years have made El Salvador a rich country.

You can't even begin to compare a tiny country with small economic problems with the US with deep rooted corruption and massive economic issues. Even if the 200k bitcoin were correct, that would only be like 0.06% of the US national debt. Meaning calling it "national reserve" doesn't even make sense.

Not to mention that holding bitcoin is not going to solve any problems. El Salvador is a good example here but not in the way you think. First of all they didn't become "a rich country", they just started fixing some of their problems over the past couple of years and it wasn't really because they started adopting bitcoin! It was because they started to actually solve the problems. For example they fought the corruption, the criminal gangs, etc. started improving their security and attracted foreign investors and stuff like that. With all these hard works, they managed to solve some of their many national problems.

Besides, the US regime never wanted to "Make America Great Ever". All they ever wanted was to fill their own pockets (which is clear from Trump creating his own tokens and scamming people with them); if they wanted to do otherwise they would have stopped their wars, stopped arming terrorist groups and stopped funding the American arms dealers and of course started fighting the corruption in the system... they are not doing any of that.

[UchihaSarada]

Not to mention that holding bitcoin is not going to solve any problems. El Salvador is a good example here but not in the way you think. First of all they didn't become "a rich country", they just started fixing some of their problems over the past couple of years and it wasn't really because they started adopting bitcoin! It was because they started to actually solve the problems. For example they fought the corruption, the criminal gangs, etc. started improving their security and attracted foreign investors and stuff like that. With all these hard works, they managed to solve some of their many national problems.

An in charged government in a nation can not 'bet' all national money in Bitcoin investment. We know the saying "Invest what you can afford to lose" and surely a government can not afford to lose all of its national money in Bitcoin investment. Even they think and believe that Bitcoin is a safe investment asset in long term, there is risk and it is known by Bitcoin market cycle history that price can be corrected 70%, 80% from ATH.

Even if a government hold bitcoin for a long time, get profit, it does not improve economy in that country. While in a country, there are many other issues to be solved or improved partially and Bitcoin can not help a national government to do this.

[Rustam Meraj]

You can't even begin to compare a tiny country with small economic problems with the US with deep rooted corruption and massive economic issues. Even if the 200k bitcoin were correct, that would only be like 0.06% of the US national debt. Meaning calling it "national reserve" doesn't even make sense.

Not to mention that holding bitcoin is not going to solve any problems. El Salvador is a good example here but not in the way you think. First of all they didn't become "a rich country", they just started fixing some of their problems over the past couple of years and it wasn't really because they started adopting bitcoin! It was because they started to actually solve the problems. For example they fought the corruption, the criminal gangs, etc. started improving their security and attracted foreign investors and stuff like that. With all these hard works, they managed to solve some of their many national problems.

Besides, the US regime never wanted to "Make America Great Ever". All they ever wanted was to fill their own pockets (which is clear from Trump creating his own tokens and scamming people with them); if they wanted to do otherwise they would have stopped their wars, stopped arming terrorist groups and stopped funding the American arms dealers and of course started fighting the corruption in the system... they are not doing any of that.

Previous points argue against idea that US government is only focused on personal gain and that Bitcoin is useless for country. But large amount of Bitcoin would not significantly reduce US national debt it could still be useful as strategic asset or hedge against inflation. And for El Salvador Bitcoin was way to modernize its economy and attract new investors showing it can be tool for country growth even if fighting crime and corruption were main drivers. It is too simple to say US government is only driven by greed as many different groups and individuals with complex motivations influence its policies.

[G_Besar]

The U.S. now holds over 200K BTC in a national reserve. Pakistan launched its own reserve in May 2025. El Salvador continues daily accumulation and now holds ~6,000 BTC.

There should be a clear difference between which countries are actually buying bitcoins and which ones are just keeping ahold of bitcoin they have taken or seized from busts. In my opinion, actually buying bitcoin raises more trust and competitiveness towards a country not like other countries who hold so much but a lot of crime were involved.

Determining this distinction isn't easy, though we can look at the approach taken by each country's government in holding Bitcoin. However, in countries like El Salvador, I see a genuine interest in Bitcoin and continue to buy it for broader and more general purposes. As a result, the El Salvadoran government isn't just investing in Bitcoin but is also preparing for other things, such as accepting Bitcoin as payment for other purposes. However, some other countries aren't as entrenched, maintaining traditional rules like using fiat currency for transactions, even though they also hold Bitcoin for investment purposes. Some of this is also confiscated after evidence of criminal activity among unscrupulous individuals.

[tabas]

Indeed, it's a race to accumulate Bitcoin. While there is a gold reserve and a standard globally that supports the value of a country's fiat currency. They're going to consider having a Bitcoin reserve and standard, and that's why they're on an arms race in taking as many as they can. What we want to happen is make all of them or the majority of them adopt Bitcoin. It doesn't need to be a legal tender, they just need to have an allocation or a very tiny portion for these governments to hold Bitcoin. If the US is doing it, others should be encouraged to hold too.

It's good for Bitcoin to have more and more countries accept it, consider it as legal or make it legal tender, and add Bitcoin to their national reserves. It's a trend that will continue to grow and it's good for you if you see this trend is on going.

It's better if you can take advantage of it for your own decisions, what to do with your money, and invest your money in Bitcoin. As an individual investor, you have very good flexibility and can take advantage of cumbersome government and institutional investors to accumulate bitcoin faster than them. So you can have better investment ROI than those cumbersome Bitcoin investors/ holders.

They don't have to be forced just because the others are adopting. They have to see the essence why the early ones have adopted it as a reserve and just allowing their citizens to adopt it. There is no problem if they don't see the essence of it but as long as they're not going to restrict their citizens from transacting and owning Bitcoin, I think that it's already a good deal from these governments if the people are free and not distracted with any of the governments law about restricting them from having Bitcoin. While we know that there's a great return due to owning it, once more peopel from the government understands it. Their minds will be open to adoption of it. But with or without that, as long as they don't impose ban. That's already enough.

[Abiky]

The U.S. now holds over 200K BTC in a national reserve. Pakistan launched its own reserve in May 2025. El Salvador continues daily accumulation and now holds ~6,000 BTC.

Are we witnessing the start of a global Bitcoin arms race?
A turning point — or a silent takeover?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated!


Paddy man

I think it's all part of the plan to takeover Bitcoin (a silent takeover). We can all be relaxed for now, since governments and institutions combined hold less than 1m BTC. That makes around 4.8% of the circulating supply. The rest is in the hands of exchanges and the people.

Hopefully, we see an increase in self-custodial Bitcoin wallets over the long term. The more people have self-custody of their Bitcoin, the better. This means less power for corporate entities, wealthy investors, and the government, and more power for "We the People". Besides, miners and nodes are still under the control of the community. They're geographically-distributed, effectively making Bitcoin decentralized and censorship-resistant. Let's see if it stays that way forever.

[Lucius]

I think it's all part of the plan to takeover Bitcoin (a silent takeover). We can all be relaxed for now, since governments and institutions combined hold less than 1m BTC. That makes around 4.8% of the circulating supply. The rest is in the hands of exchanges and the people.
~snip~

You're not exactly up to date with the numbers, because back in early July, US-based ETFs alone held around 1.24 million BTC, which is roughly 6%, and if you add the 3% held by Strategy and everyone else we know and don't know about, then that figure definitely exceeds 10% of the max supply.

In addition, everything held by CEXs is centralized, it can be frozen or hacked at any time, so I don't consider it safe.

[₿itcoin]

Are we witnessing the start of a global Bitcoin arms race?
A turning point — or a silent takeover?

I think it's all part of the plan to takeover Bitcoin (a silent takeover). We can all be relaxed for now, since governments and institutions combined hold less than 1m BTC. That makes around 4.8% of the circulating supply. The rest is in the hands of exchanges and the people.
~snip~

You're not exactly up to date with the numbers, because back in early July, US-based ETFs alone held around 1.24 million BTC, which is roughly 6%, and if you add the 3% held by Strategy and everyone else we know and don't know about, then that figure definitely exceeds 10% of the max supply.
In addition, everything held by CEXs is centralized, it can be frozen or hacked at any time, so I don't consider it safe.

Yes, Paddy, this appear to be a hushed ₿ arms race. The United States not long ago accepted a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve with about 200000 ₿, basically through forfeitures with no taxpayer  funding.  Over 1.24 million ₿ or more than 6% of the entire supply are at present HODLed  by USlisted spot ETFs.  

So Lucius nailed itn, the overall institutional sway is in all likelihood more than 10%.  That is a lot of capability in one region.  imo only strengthens the case for self-custody & decentralised infrastructure -your nodes, your keys - to ensure that Bitcoin residue genuinely owned by the people.

[Abiky]

You're not exactly up to date with the numbers, because back in early July, US-based ETFs alone held around 1.24 million BTC, which is roughly 6%, and if you add the 3% held by Strategy and everyone else we know and don't know about, then that figure definitely exceeds 10% of the max supply.

In addition, everything held by CEXs is centralized, it can be frozen or hacked at any time, so I don't consider it safe.

Ah, yes. Just a slight miscalculation on my part. Anyways, you get the point. Governments and institutions only hold a fraction of the circulating supply. 10% is very minuscule compared to the rest of the "pie" (which is 90%).

I hope most of the BTC in circulation remains in non-custodial/self-custody wallets for the foreseeable future. It's for Bitcoin's own good. Otherwise, powerful entities would be able to manipulate prices (and possibly bribe developers) to their hearts' content. Is this what Satoshi wants? No. A lot of things can happen in the future, so better be prepared for the worse just in case.

[Lucius]

Ah, yes. Just a slight miscalculation on my part. Anyways, you get the point. Governments and institutions only hold a fraction of the circulating supply. 10% is very minuscule compared to the rest of the "pie" (which is 90%).

Roughly speaking, spot ETFs + Saylor hold about 10%, which is easy to verify, but there are many smaller investors in this story who together hold a few percentages, but the real question is how much have those who we don't know about and who are not required to publicly disclose bought?

It is in the interest of all of them that the price be as low as possible, and if you look at how much BTC has flowed into ETFs since the beginning of 2024 and how much it actually affected the price, then it is clear that they are succeeding.

I hope most of the BTC in circulation remains in non-custodial/self-custody wallets for the foreseeable future. It's for Bitcoin's own good. Otherwise, powerful entities would be able to manipulate prices (and possibly bribe developers) to their hearts' content. Is this what Satoshi wants? No. A lot of things can happen in the future, so better be prepared for the worse just in case.

Aren't they already manipulating the price? Today, the price is about $10k lower than a few days ago, and it's not ordinary people who are responsible for that, but big players who decided it's time to take a little profit and now buy at a reduced price.

In fact, there are too many coins in the wallets of those who are only interested in profit, so Bitcoin will continue to remain volatile because it is possible to earn a lot of money in a very short period of time.

[tbct_mt2]

Roughly speaking, spot ETFs + Saylor hold about 10%, which is easy to verify, but there are many smaller investors in this story who together hold a few percentages, but the real question is how much have those who we don't know about and who are not required to publicly disclose bought?

It can be verified there and other Bitcoin Treasuries websites.
https://bitcointreasuries.net/

The noticeable interesting thing is Bitcoin Treasuries pie charts have become more diversifying with time and the list has been expanding longer with time too. It shows very good Bitcoin adoption recent years and the trend is upwards and expansive more.

Aren't they already manipulating the price? Today, the price is about $10k lower than a few days ago, and it's not ordinary people who are responsible for that, but big players who decided it's time to take a little profit and now buy at a reduced price.

They are market makers and manipulate the market but if we understand Bitcoin market history and psychology cycle of the market as well as market manipulations, we as small investors can take advantage of their manipulations by applying DCA strategy and accumulate bitcoins over time by waiting dips and buying if our regular DCA time coincidentally matches with Bitcoin dips, we won't feel fearful and won't hesitate to buy.