There are recent rumors in the market that the Chinese government is "offloading" its Bitcoin holdings. Due to a lack of precise tracking addresses, the exact changes in Bitcoin holdings are currently unknown.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries, China is the second-largest holder of Bitcoin globally, currently possessing 190,000 Bitcoins valued at approximately $12.1 billion. The United States holds the most, with over 213,000 Bitcoins valued at more than $12.97 billion.
Beyond countries with clear data, Russia and North Korea's Bitcoin positions are also noteworthy, although their holdings are uncertain. Russia currently holds about 11% of the global Bitcoin mining share, ranking third worldwide. North Korea has stolen $2 billion in cryptocurrencies between 2018 and 2023, including $600 million last year alone.
The leading governments in Bitcoin holdings have not purchased Bitcoin but have seized it from criminals. The U.S. government, from November 2020 to 2022, confiscated over 200,000 Bitcoins through various law enforcement actions. These Bitcoins are mainly stored in secure, encrypted offline cold wallets controlled by the U.S. Department of Justice, the IRS, or other agencies. Significant confiscations include:
Last February, the U.S. government sold 9,861 Bitcoins from the Silk Road on Coinbase. This February, it transferred 15,085 BTC from the Bitfinex hack, likely in preparation for an auction.
The Chinese government, holding the second-largest amount of Bitcoin, seized 190,000 Bitcoins in the PlusToken Ponzi scheme in 2020. The seized assets included:
The UK government, holding the third-largest amount of Bitcoin, confiscated 61,000 Bitcoins in a Bitcoin laundering case. Jian Wen, a former UK restaurant employee, was involved in laundering money for Chinese fugitive Zhimin Qian.
As early as 2017, Bulgaria's local police seized more than $3 billion worth of Bitcoins, totaling 213,519 coins, which is even more than the United States today.
However, the local government discovered in 2018 that all the Bitcoins had been sold. The media quoted the government's official statement as saying that the Bitcoins had been sold in a secret auction, claiming that they had decided to use the funds raised to purchase new fighter jets. Strengthen the Bulgarian army.
According to Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp, since 2014, the U.S. government has seized and sold at least 195,091 Bitcoins, making more than $366 million in profits.
As of June 27, the German government still holds approximately 45,000 Bitcoins, with a current value of over US$2.75 billion.
Prior to this, the German government held about 50,000 Bitcoins, which were mainly seized from the pirated movie website operator Movie2k. This is also the largest Bitcoin seizure in the history of German law enforcement.
In the past week, the German government’s Bitcoin holdings have experienced frequent changes. It has successively transferred approximately 8,495 Bitcoins to market makers Flow Trader and Kraken, Bitstamp, Coinbase and other exchanges, accounting for less than five percent of the current holdings. one part.
The crypto market has been "walking on thin ice" recently, and the market panic index has reached a high level. In addition to Mt. Gox's upcoming Bitcoin compensation plan, the United States and Germany have also experienced large-scale transfer changes. Although the current shipment volume is small, the market is fully capable of digesting it. In volatile market conditions, these selling pressures have also intensified investors' panic.
If the Chinese government’s large-scale selling of Bitcoin is confirmed, it will inevitably have a huge impact on the market.
Previously, at a research meeting titled "Judicial Identification of Digital Currency Crime Objects" held by the Nanjing Municipal People's Procuratorate, Jiangsu Law Society Case Law Research Association and other institutions at the end of April, a number of legal experts clearly determined that Bitcoin has property attributes and can be Classified as commodities, they should be protected by law.
This is obviously inconsistent with the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Speculation in Virtual Currency Transactions" promulgated by China in 2021. The first point in the notice clearly states that virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender and defines transactions in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as illegal financial activities.
The content information of this research meeting was also deleted shortly after it was released, but the smooth holding of this meeting may also indicate that China’s stance on the cryptocurrency market has changed.
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