- China is reportedly weighing the creation of a national bitcoin reserve.
- The US has already taken such a step, though many observers overestimate the government’s BTC stash.
- China’s actual holdings are even murkier.
China is working hard to establish its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), according to Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey.
China is now working double time to stand up their own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
They’ve been holding closed door meetings on the topic since the election.
— David Bailey?? $0.85mm/btc is the floor (@DavidFBailey) March 2, 2025
He said closed-door meetings among government officials on the topic began after the US election in November 2024.
Responding to accusations of disinformation, Bailey noted that he had reported both the formation of an SBR in the US and the pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht before official announcements. As for his sources, he stressed that there are “quite a few die-hard bitcoiners” in Beijing.
A potential leader
On March 6, US president Donald Trump signed an order establishing an SBR. The fund will be built on assets seized by the state. The initiative was one of the politician’s campaign promises.
According to BitcoinTreasuries, wallets controlled by US authorities hold 198,109 BTC.
However, roughly 120,000 BTC should be returned to the Bitfinex exchange. Law enforcement seized the cryptocurrency from hacker Ilya Lichtenstein, who breached the platform in 2016. For 94,643 BTC, US prosecutors have already sought a court ruling.
The Chinese government holds 190,000 BTC, according to the service. The assets are linked to the PlusToken crypto pyramid.
In theory, that sum could make Beijing the biggest state holder of digital gold. Yet as early as 2020, media reported that all cryptocurrencies confiscated from the scam’s organisers had been sold for $4.2bn.
Even so, analysts in subsequent years continued to track movements of some assets seized from PlusToken, for example, Ethereum.
In January 2025, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju nonetheless suggested that China had disposed of all cryptocurrencies via Chinese exchanges such as Huobi.
?? China sold 194K #Bitcoin already, imo.
PlusToken’s seized BTC in 2019 was sent to Chinese exchanges like Huobi. The CCP said it was “transferred to the national treasury” without clarifying if it was sold.
A censored regime holding censorship-resistant money feels unlikely. pic.twitter.com/ODHD9rSR0d
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) January 23, 2025
The expert noted that the CPC said the assets were “transferred to the national treasury” without specifying whether they were converted to fiat.
“A regime committed to censorship holding censorship-resistant money. That seems unlikely,” the head of CryptoQuant stated.
Who is next?
The third-largest state bitcoin holder is the United Kingdom with 61,000 BTC. The authorities have made no official statements about forming an SBR.
Ukraine, according to BitcoinTreasuries, holds 46,351 BTC. But both the reliability of this information and the status of the assets are unclear.
Bhutan and El Salvador have confirmed bitcoin reserves of 10,635 BTC and 6,103 BTC, respectively.
The Latin American country recognised the first cryptocurrency as legal tender in September 2021. In recent months El Salvador’s authorities have come under pressure from the IMF. The international body is demanding significant adjustments to the bitcoin strategy under a $1.4bn credit-line agreement.
German authorities sold off 49,858 BTC in an emergency sale in the summer of 2024, raising €2.6bn ($2.88bn). The assets were those seized from the Movie2k piracy portal in January. At the time, they were worth about $2.17bn.
The liquidation was criticised in the Bundestag. The assets could have formed the basis of an SBR for Germany—or even the EU. Calls to create a reserve emerged both in Germany and in the European Parliament.
However, the confiscated bitcoins were held by the authorities of the federal state of Saxony. Under local law, the time frame for holding seized assets is limited, and the sale simply proceeded under the rules, explained Lennart Ante, co-founder and CEO of Blockchain Research Lab.
Russia’s State Duma said that creating a national reserve “is not yet being discussed” at the state level. Officially, the country does not hold the first cryptocurrency.
Jan3 CEO Samson Mow is convinced that in the SBR “race” launched by the United States, state purchases of digital gold are inevitable. Actions by Russia in this direction “have important significance,” he added, citing his own sources.
Some Bitcoiners are saying the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve doesn’t do anything because it’s just seized assets and there’s no buying.
Well, there will be buying. There are a number of “budget neutral” ways to acquire Bitcoin such as issuing #BitcoinBonds or selling gold. Give it… pic.twitter.com/zBxYhQwMZ8
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) March 7, 2025
Mow also believes the United States will not want to cede dominance in the sector and will increase the size of its SBR by acquiring more bitcoin.
Analysts have welcomed the bitcoin industry’s prospects amid the creation of the US crypto reserve.