The United States government holds a substantial amount of Bitcoin in its coffers – over 205,000 BTC, to be exact. This number accounts for over 1% of the total circulating supply of Bitcoin. Where did this Bitcoin come from?
The first case involved a mysterious individual, dubbed “Individual X.” This person managed to take 69,369 BTC from the Silk Road marketplace account and the US government was able to find out who the person was. The individual signed a consent and agreement to forfeiture with the US attorney’s office, handing over the said amount of Bitcoin.
The second case was announced on February 8th 2022, where the US Department of Justice announced the seizure of 94,636 BTC linked to the 2016 hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.
The third case was announced on November 7th 2022, where James Zhong pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud in September 2022. He had unlawfully obtained over 50,000 BTC from the Silk Road marketplace.
Now that we know where the US government’s Bitcoin holdings come from, it’s worth taking a look at how these holdings compare to other large holders.
Coinbase holds the most BTC with 2 million BTC, making up 10.34% of the circulating supply. This is followed by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, who holds 1.1 million BTC (5.69%). Grayscale is third, with 643,572 BTC (3.32%), followed by Binance with 248,597 BTC (1.28%). The US government is fifth largest holder, with 205,515 BTC (1.06%), followed by MicroStrategy with 124,391 BTC (0.64%), the Winklevoss twins with 70,000 BTC (0.36%), Tesla with 42,902 BTC (0.22%) and El Salvador with 2,381 BTC (0.012%).
It’s shocking to see just how large Coinbase’s holdings are compared to other large holders. With 10.34% of the circulating supply, Coinbase is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin in the world. The US government, on the other hand, holds a respectable amount of Bitcoin, as it has confiscated over 205,000 BTC from three separate cases. This accounts for over 1% of the circulating supply, which isn’t too shabby.