US Government Holds Over $5,500,000,000 in Bitcoin (BTC), According to On-Chain Data

On-chain data indicates that the US government is currently one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) whales in the world.

According to researchers at 21.co, the US government possesses 194,188 BTC worth more than $5.5 billion at time of writing.

21.co is the parent company of 21shares, the world’s largest crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer.

That trove represents nearly 1% of BTC’s total circulating supply.

The 21.co researchers also note their analysis is a “lower-bound estimation of the US government holdings based on publicly available information.” Their dashboard tracks wallets associated with the government’s three largest BTC seizures since 2020.

The US government has reportedly confiscated at least 215,000 BTC since 2020, though some of that was moved earlier this year.

Blockchain security company PeckShield notes that the government sent 9,826 BTC worth $217 million to top domestic crypto exchange Coinbase in March.

The government also reportedly transferred an additional 39,175 BTC worth $867 million to two new addresses that appear to be internally controlled and not linked to any exchanges.

BTC is trading at $28,384 at time of writing. The top-ranked crypto asset by market cap is up nearly 71% since the start of 2023 but remains nearly 59% down from its all-time high of more than $69,000, which it hit in November 2021.

Generated Image: Midjourney