[LIST] Countries that own bitcoin

[Husires]

I know it may seem early to make such a list, but I hope it will be filled up quickly in the coming years.
Today we have the first country to announce that it owns Bitcoin.
If you have information about other countries, add it below.

|	. Name .............................................	|	...... Amount ...................	|	...... Source ......	|
|	El Salvador	|	.......700 BTC	|	...Click here	|
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Change Log

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[Coyster]

I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, but I think this list will take ages to get filled up, it may even take quite long to add another country to the list, this is not cause Bitcoin is not a great currency/investment option, but just basically cause governments cannot control it, thus they'll definitely be reluctant to take the path that El Salvador has taken, in the past few weeks, some government officials from other countries have openly criticized El Salvador's decision, it just goes to show what the rest of the world thinks about it.

Having said that, I expect Bitcoins rapid growth to continue, with or without governments acceptance/adoption, the thing remains that their level of control over the network remains essentially limited, thus they seek to do so through centralized exchanges and other centralized services crypto users submit their data to before using their service, I do hope that somewhere down the line, governments look beyond their quest for control and accept Bitcoin as a change/good alternative to their monotonous traditional financial system.

[PrivacyG]

I may be very wrong but I believe Bulgaria and Ukraine own Bitcoin as well, seized Bitcoins to be specific.  The United States may also own some seized Bitcoins although I believe they auctioned all or most of it long time ago.

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

[bitmover]

I know it may seem early to make such a list, but I hope it will be filled up quickly in the coming years.
Today we have the first country to announce that it owns Bitcoin.
If you have information about other countries, add it below.

The list is far larger.

United states have already seized some bitcoins from criminal activities, which they own now. I think that it is also likely other countries are doing the same:

https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/7/30/22600574/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-ethereum-asset-seizure-crimes-bank-storage-password-department-of-justice

his week, a small platform for safekeeping cryptocurrency called Anchorage Digital announced it had won a contract from the Department of Justice to store and liquidate digital assets that federal law enforcement seizes following criminal investigations.

I also found this link from Investopedia, whcih mentions United States, Bulgaria, Sweden and North Korea as hoarding bitcoin.

Bulgaria
The Bulgarian government seized more than 200,000 bitcoins from the results of an organized crime crackdown in May 2017, according to reporting by CoinDesk. The sting resulted in the arrest of 23 Bulgarian nationals and the seizure of bitcoin valued at $3.3 billion at the time. As of late November 2017, the Bulgarian government declined to comment on what would happen with the seized digital currency, indicating that there was an ongoing criminal investigation.

Sweden
The Swedish government made digital currency headlines in the fall of 2017 when it decided to auction off some seized bitcoin as well. The value of the seized assets were significantly smaller than those in the Bulgarian incident, as the Swedish Kronofogden announced plans to sell just 0.6 BTC, worth about $3,200 at the time.

 
United States
The United States has also taken part in auctions of bitcoin holdings that were seized in criminal investigations. In late 2015, for instance, the U.S. Marshals Service auctioned more than 44,000 BTC which were seized from Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht. This was the final in a series of auctions for a similar purpose.

North Korea
While the above governments have publicly auctioned bitcoin holdings that were seized from criminal activity, North Korea's government has shown some signs of actually collecting and hoarding BTC.

[electronicash]

I know it may seem early to make such a list, but I hope it will be filled up quickly in the coming years.
Today we have the first country to announce that it owns Bitcoin.
If you have information about other countries, add it below.

The list is far larger.

United states have already seized some bitcoins from criminal activities, which they own now. I think that it is also likely other countries are doing the same:

https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/7/30/22600574/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-ethereum-asset-seizure-crimes-bank-storage-password-department-of-justice

his week, a small platform for safekeeping cryptocurrency called Anchorage Digital announced it had won a contract from the Department of Justice to store and liquidate digital assets that federal law enforcement seizes following criminal investigations.

I also found this link from Investopedia, whcih mentions United States, Bulgaria, Sweden and North Korea as hoarding bitcoin.

Bulgaria
The Bulgarian government seized more than 200,000 bitcoins from the results of an organized crime crackdown in May 2017, according to reporting by CoinDesk. The sting resulted in the arrest of 23 Bulgarian nationals and the seizure of bitcoin valued at $3.3 billion at the time. As of late November 2017, the Bulgarian government declined to comment on what would happen with the seized digital currency, indicating that there was an ongoing criminal investigation.

Sweden
The Swedish government made digital currency headlines in the fall of 2017 when it decided to auction off some seized bitcoin as well. The value of the seized assets were significantly smaller than those in the Bulgarian incident, as the Swedish Kronofogden announced plans to sell just 0.6 BTC, worth about $3,200 at the time.

 
United States
The United States has also taken part in auctions of bitcoin holdings that were seized in criminal investigations. In late 2015, for instance, the U.S. Marshals Service auctioned more than 44,000 BTC which were seized from Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht. This was the final in a series of auctions for a similar purpose.

North Korea
While the above governments have publicly auctioned bitcoin holdings that were seized from criminal activity, North Korea's government has shown some signs of actually collecting and hoarding BTC.

these are situations where the government seized BTC. they did not buy it but were taken by force because of criminal activity. it's still assets considered theirs now so yes they own coins. the Chinese government must have seized a lot of coins, it is not however reported though. but i suspect this country has confiscated more BTC.

El Salvador will be wealthier if they buy the dip every time, this is like Saylor's strategy.

[hatshepsut93]

I may be very wrong but I believe Bulgaria and Ukraine own Bitcoin as well, seized Bitcoins to be specific.  The United States may also own some seized Bitcoins although I believe they auctioned all or most of it long time ago.

-
Regards,
PrivacyG

There was a rumor that Bulgaria holds 200,000 BTC but it has never been proved. There was also a report how Ukrainian officials hold a lot of BTC, but it's not accurate and exaggerated.

A lot of countries hold Bitcoin in a sense that it was seized from criminals, but El Salvador is the first and only country that officially bought Bitcoin.

[Kittygalore]

I think Cbina and USA has their share of bitcoin if my memory serves me right. They did bought a huge amount back then although I can't remember how many it is. El Salvador is doing a good job buying more bitcoin now that the prices are dipping, they will definitely benefit more when the prices starts pumping up again.

[joniboini]

I never knew China was buying some BTC, considering how they're trying hard to make sure mining and stuff like that stop. Are you sure it was not seized from criminals or illegal miners as mentioned above? If that's true then the hype would be crazy. I don't recall seeing one.

[Kakmakr]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/04/irs-has-seized-1point2-billion-worth-of-cryptocurrency-this-year-.html

“In fiscal year 2019, we had about $700,000 worth of crypto seizures. In 2020, it was up to $137 million. And so far in 2021, we’re at $1.2 billion,” Koopman told CNBC. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

So some countries (governments) have Crypto currencies for a while and then they auction them off for fiat currency. These Crypto currencies are seized from criminal activities, so the money goes back into the government tax covers to fight crime. (Well, we can just hope)

[add1ct3dd]

I think Ukraine might be the second to come on this list very soon. I can’t give you reasons why, but I’ve been seeing them on the news lately after El Salvador declared Bitcoin a legal tender. The rate at which people has been talking about this country has been really high, so there is much possibility that there might be the next country that will be considering Bitcoin.

There are also other countries too that people do mention, but this one is what they talk about the most. Although that doesn’t really determine what will happen in the future, because before El Salvador declared Bitcoin a legal assets, people have been talking about this Ukraine and then all of a sudden El Salvador took the chance.

[famososMuertos]

...//...:

hi,
I think you should better fix up the profile of the candidates and not only leave "countries that own bitcoin," because in practical reality there are several that can be owners for various reasons (as mentioned in the previous posts). Legal currency are the keywords here.

I am optimistic in thinking the updates of your OP could well be delayed only by presidential terms.

[Rikafip]

The list is far larger.

United states have already seized some bitcoins from criminal activities, which they own now. I think that it is also likely other countries are doing the same:


I also found this link from Investopedia, whcih mentions United States, Bulgaria, Sweden and North Korea as hoarding bitcoin.

Imho, it doesn't make sense to include those countries on the list of those just because they temporarily own some seized  bitcoin as they will sell it off anyway, like they usually do with the seized stuff. For all we know, some of those countries may sold it already.

But yeah, I think it's way too early for lists like this.

[sana54210]

I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, but I think this list will take ages to get filled up, it may even take quite long to add another country to the list, this is not cause Bitcoin is not a great currency/investment option, but just basically cause governments cannot control it, thus they'll definitely be reluctant to take the path that El Salvador has taken, in the past few weeks, some government officials from other countries have openly criticized El Salvador's decision, it just goes to show what the rest of the world thinks about it.

Having said that, I expect Bitcoins rapid growth to continue, with or without governments acceptance/adoption, the thing remains that their level of control over the network remains essentially limited, thus they seek to do so through centralized exchanges and other centralized services crypto users submit their data to before using their service, I do hope that somewhere down the line, governments look beyond their quest for control and accept Bitcoin as a change/good alternative to their monotonous traditional financial system.

It may take a while to add another nation, but even just one is a huge deal. We are talking about a nation that started off with what 250? 350? Something like that and already has close to 1000 on the books (700 we know, but they do not let us know beforehand so I am sure they are working on getting more as we speak right now). It means that even El Salvador alone is a huge deal and following how it will be awesome for them would be great too.

On top of that, even if it takes time, these things do not happen overnight, it will take time to add in 2nd, but from 50th to 51th could be same, after we have 50, the 51th will come in very easily. It means that we just need to wait to grow gradually but eventually it will become better and better. When that happens, we are going to end up with something much more profitable for retail investors.

[examplens]

I remember that Bulgaria seized a large amount ^213,519 of Bitcoin from criminals. It is official, I guess they still hold it.

Bulgarian Government Has Stated That It Owns Some 213,519 Bitcoins – Valued At Approximately 18% Of Its National Debt – That Have Been Seized From A Criminal Network.

source: https://www.coininsider.com/bulgarian-government-owns-3-billion-usd-bitcoin/

[Lucius]

I remember that Bulgaria seized a large amount ^213,519 of Bitcoin from criminals. It is official, I guess they still hold it.

That myth of how many BTCs they actually had and whether they still have them has long since been shattered. According to the Bulgarian Finance Minister, the last sale ended in early April 2018 - although it is not known what the exact amount of BTC was.

The publication claims that Bulgaria’s finance minister, Vladislav Goranov, told the Prime Minister’s Security Council the sale had taken place, and that the coins were sold piecemeal so as not to crash the market.

“Several sovereign wealth funds and Asian investors” purchased the coins for around €15,000 each, with Deloitte acting as a consultant, Bivol references Goranov as revealing.

Even more curiously, “experts from the US FBI helped to ensure the safety of transactions,” the last of which occurred April 1, 2018, Goranov is reported to have said.

[NeuroticFish]

I remember that Bulgaria seized a large amount ^213,519 of Bitcoin from criminals. It is official, I guess they still hold it.

No, they no longer own that.

On the same page, even Romania had some seized crypto for auctioning and at least at start they've been asking way more than the market price; I didn't follow the story and I don't know if it's the same money, but I see some news about crypto being auctioned successfully.

On the other hand, doesn't US have any seized Bitcoin at all? I guess that they may have some which wasn't auctioned yet...


But... I am not convinced that these numbers are worthy for that list, since these coins are supposed to be auctioned pretty fast (sometimes it does happen fast, sometimes not), while El Salvador's bitcoin is there to stay (at least as long as the current president).

[tyz]

The question is how to define "to own." Because basically, a lot of countries are in possession of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies through their respective law enforcement agencies through seizure. Even the USA. Most of the time, however, they are sold or auctioned off when they are obtained from illegal sources. But in a narrower sense, it means that they are at least temporary owners of these coins.

Maybe you should narrow down the question a bit. For example: Which countries own Bitcoin as government reserves?

[Wind_FURY]

OP, I believe North Korea also owns hacked/stolen Bitcoin for purposes of censorship-resistance, and for their economic sanctions resistance. The main Bitcoin value proposition.

Add it in your list, but put a question mark, or something indicating it as open to debate, and/or “Shower Thoughts”. Haha.

[OnlineCasinoBoard]

I know it may seem early to make such a list, but I hope it will be filled up quickly in the coming years.
Today we have the first country to announce that it owns Bitcoin.
If you have information about other countries, add it below.

|	. Name .............................................	|	...... Amount ...................	|	...... Source ......	|
|	El Salvador	|	.......700 BTC	|	...Click here	|
|		|		|		|
|		|		|		|
|		|		|		|

Change Log

Code:

If they had 700 bitcoin, it's enough for them to live like a king for the period if thousand years.And it with a conditions apply.Because we don't know, bitcoin will survive for that much years and can't be sure.Secondly he need to handover the control of bitcoin to next generation. If the handover missed out in any generation. Then everything everything get into soil.

[Leviathan.007]

The information about who owns bitcoin and which country owns bitcoin can not be exact, ever. That's the point of bitcoin, there is none who knows which country got more bitcoins. For example, China government seems to be a bitcoin hater as a communist government but we can not be sure if they are investing and using bitcoin or not, surely they are, but in multiple small wallets. There is the same story for El Salvador and the other countries, they say we bought bitcoins but this can be just some news released from their government to play with the price and their own economic system.