How Much Bitcoin (BTC) Does the Government Hold?

The U.S. government is one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) holders, amassing billions worth of digital assets through seizures and forfeitures. Interestingly, the focus has shifted on these government holdings, as the discussion of the Strategic Crypto Reserve began with the recent Donald Trump announcements on the subject.

In this blog, let’s discuss how much BTC the government holds and how that will be used.

Donald Trump Signs The Executive Order For Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

After the recent post on the Truth about the U.S. Strategic Crypto Reserve, Donald Trump has taken the official steps to build one. According to David Sacks, the appointed AI and Crypto Czar, Trump has signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

More importantly, the reserve will be funded with the tokens acquired from criminals or civil asset forfeitures.

Just a few minutes ago, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it will not cost taxpayers a dime.

This clarifies that the taxpayers would not have to bear the expenses of a Crypto Reserve. Additionally, Sacks claims that it would function as “digital Fort Knox” and would ensure that the U.S. has sufficient holding of this “digital gold” to maintain its position in the crypto economy.

This became crucial since Elon Musk questioned Fort Knox’s Gold holding last month, highlighting the lack of transparency.

Key Highlights From the Executive Order:

In the X post, David Sacks revealed some key points from Donald Trump’s Executive Order. It includes:

1. The U.S. government will not sell BTC stored in the reserve
2. An audit for the federal asset holding is now in order
3. The Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce to explore budget-neutral strategies to ensure taxpayers do not suffer
4. A U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, consisting of non-Bitcoin digital assets (acquired through forfeitures), has also been created.
5. The government will not acquire additional assets for the Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings.

How Much Bitcoin Does the U.S. Government Hold?

The U.S. government has been strict about regulating the crypto industry and has seized millions of dollars’ worth of tokens from criminals or civil asset forfeitures. However, the exact number of BTC holdings is a topic of debate among analysts, and the figure ranges between 86,000 tokens to 200,000 tokens.

In the Executive Order announcement, Sacks pointed out that the government holds nearly 200,000 BTC, and an audit was ordered to find the accurate details. Meanwhile, a crypto analyst, Conor Grogan, estimates they have 198,109 tokens, nearly $18 billion per the current price.

By my estimation, the US Govt owns 198.109k BTC. This executive order removes ~$18B of sell-side pressure

Another analyst, Alex Thorn, contested this number, claiming that the U.S. government has a maximum of 86,000 tokens (43% of holdings) for repurpose. This is because the authorities recovered the remaining 112,000 BTC from the Bitfinex hack and are expected to return.

Market Reactions and Broader Economic Context

As the U.S. government holds billions worth of digital assets, their decision about the holding impacts the broader market. Like every time they sold holdings, the crypto market crashed. However, confidence is now building as Sacks revealed that the government will use these holdings for the Bitcoin Reserve.

The crypto market has already reacted positively to the Crypto Reserve news, where the included assets ADA, XRP, and SOL price pumped immediately after Donald Trump’s announcement. Even today, the market is seeing recovery in digital assets.

However, the Bitcoin price crashed amid confusion about the funding of this reserve. Additionally, the altcoins were missing from Trump’s Executive Order news.

This concerns investors, as earlier controversies hint at Cardano and Solana exiting the reserve. 

Final Thoughts

The U.S. The Government’s crypto strategy is finally in action as the Executive Order has been officially signed. However, the government can only use 86,000 BTC (43% of holdings), and the strategy for the remaining holdings remains unclear.

Investors now await the White House Crypto Summit today for better clarity on this topic.