Government bitcoin holdings

Name: Government bitcoin holdings from official sources
Creator: CryptoKeyhole

CryptoKeyhole counts 196,101 BTC held by governments by their own official sources at 8 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC: the United States about 127,271, the United Kingdom about 61,000, El Salvador 7,830.

CryptoKeyhole lists the bitcoin governments hold by their own court filings, statements and published addresses, each figure with its document.

Held by governments, by official sources

196,101 BTC

3 governments; 1.0% of bitcoin issued

Worth at our price

$14.6B

$74,391 per BTC

Largest

127,271 BTC

United States

El Salvador today

7,830 BTC

its own addresses, our node

El Salvador read on our node at 8 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC; other figures as their documents date them.

From court filings, official statements and El Salvador's addresses on our own node. Last update 8 November 2026, 23:32 UTC

Every government with an official figure

United States
127,271 BTCApproximate, as stated; as of 14 Oct 2025
Official figureSeized; held by the US government while forfeiture is pending. The only current custody figure in an official US document. The US has not published an audited total of the bitcoin its agencies hold, so coins from other seizures are not counted here.
- US Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York: United States v. Approximately 127,271 Bitcoin, verified complaint in rem (E.D.N.Y., No. 1:25-cv-05745), 14 Oct 2025. Approximately 127,271 bitcoin, previously stored at 25 addresses the complaint lists and since transferred in their entirety to other addresses, "currently in the custody of the United States at virtual currency addresses known to the government"; forfeiture is pending.
- US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs: Chairman of Prince Group indicted for operating Cambodian forced labor scam compounds, 14 Oct 2025. Announces the forfeiture complaint against about 127,271 bitcoin, now in US government custody, the largest forfeiture action in the Department of Justice's history.
United Kingdom
61,000 BTCApproximate, as stated; as of 29 Sep 2025
Official figureSeized by the Metropolitan Police; subject to civil recovery proceedings in the High Court. Who finally keeps these coins (victims or the state) is for the High Court to decide.
- Metropolitan Police: Two people convicted following world's largest crypto seizure, 29 Sep 2025. "The Met seized 61,000 Bitcoin" from Zhimin Qian; the investigation began in 2018.
- Courts and Tribunals Judiciary: R v Zhimin Qian and Seng Hok Ling, sentencing remarks (Southwark Crown Court), 11 Nov 2025. The wallets were seized in searches on 31 October and 1 November 2018 and 22 April 2024, and police recovered the cryptocurrency between June 2021 and September 2025.
- Crown Prosecution Service: How we prosecuted Europe's biggest crypto money laundering case. The 61,000 bitcoin recovered "is currently subject to Civil Recovery proceedings in the High Court".
El Salvador
7,830.37 BTCOur node, 8 Nov 2026 so far; the Bitcoin Office's own figure: 7,830.37 BTC
Checked on our nodeHeld by the government; bought and still buying. Its National Bitcoin Office publishes its addresses; the figure is their balance on our own node.
- Government of El Salvador: Oficina Nacional del Bitcoin: the government's wallet. The National Bitcoin Office publishes the addresses of the government's bitcoin and their balance; we read the same addresses on our own node.
Germany
0 BTCHeld 49,858 BTC from 16 Jan 2024; sold in June and July 2024
Official figureSold between 19 June and 12 July 2024. Saxony's prosecutors sold the coins seized in the movie2k case; the proceeds are held until that case ends.
- Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden (Saxony): Notveräußerung von fast 50.000 Bitcoins abgeschlossen (Medieninformation), 16 Jul 2024. About 49,858 bitcoin, transferred to the authorities on 16 January 2024, were sold between 19 June and 12 July 2024 for EUR 2,639,683,413.92, held in custody until the criminal case ends.

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Seizures, purchases and sales

16 Jan 2024
Germany: about 49,858 BTC from the movie2k case are transferred to Saxony's prosecutors.Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden (Saxony)
14 Mar 2024
El Salvador: its published addresses receive 4,507.69 BTC (our node), to 5,689.69 BTC.Government of El Salvador
19 Jun 2024
Germany: the sale begins, in many small lots, mostly over the counter.Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden (Saxony)
12 Jul 2024
Germany: the last of the 49,858 BTC is sold, for EUR 2.64 billion in all.Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden (Saxony)
29 Sep 2025
United Kingdom: Zhimin Qian pleads guilty; the Metropolitan Police states it seized 61,000 BTC.Metropolitan Police
14 Oct 2025
United States: prosecutors file to forfeit about 127,271 BTC, in US custody.US Department of Justice, US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York
11 Nov 2025
United Kingdom: Qian is sentenced; the bitcoin stays subject to civil recovery in the High Court.Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
18 Nov 2025
El Salvador: its published addresses receive 1,091.19 BTC (our node), to 7,475.37 BTC.Government of El Salvador

Governments not listed, and why

Bhutan: Its sovereign fund has mined bitcoin since 2019, but neither it nor the government publishes a figure or addresses; the numbers in circulation are analytics firms' estimates.
China: No official figure. The coins said to come from the PlusToken case are an analytics firm's estimate.
North Korea: Holdings attributed to hacking groups are analytics firms' estimates, not a government disclosure.
United Arab Emirates: No official figure; mining holdings in circulation are estimates.
Ukraine: The bitcoin in officials' asset declarations belongs to the officials personally, not to the state.
Czech Republic: The Czech National Bank announced a test portfolio of about $1 million in digital assets in November 2025, including bitcoin, without stating how many bitcoin.

The daily history

The daily history of each government's holdings and their share of the supply are in Plus. Open the government holdings chart.

Sources and method

A government is listed only where it says itself what it holds: addresses it publishes, which we read on our own Bitcoin node, or a court filing or official statement that gives a number of bitcoin. Each figure keeps its document and date, and counts until the government's next official figure.

Coins are never followed on chain. The US court filing lists the addresses the 127,271 BTC left, not those they sit at now, so the US figure is the filing's, not a balance. Estimates by analytics firms are left out, even where they are widely quoted.

Quoting these figures? Credit CryptoKeyhole with a link to this page.

Questions

Which government holds the most bitcoin?

Among governments that publish a figure, CryptoKeyhole counts the United States first, with about 127,271 BTC as of 14 Oct 2025. Countries said to hold more, such as China, publish no figure, so they are not ranked.

How much bitcoin does the US government own?

CryptoKeyhole counts about 127,271 BTC: the bitcoin a federal forfeiture complaint filed on 14 Oct 2025 says is in US custody. The US has not published an audited total of all the bitcoin its agencies hold, so coins from other seizures are not counted.

Does the UK government own bitcoin?

Its police hold about 61,000 BTC seized from Zhimin Qian, by CryptoKeyhole's reading of the Metropolitan Police statement of 29 September 2025. The High Court is deciding in civil recovery proceedings whether they go to victims or the state.

How much bitcoin does El Salvador have?

7,830.37 BTC on 8 Nov 2026 so far, by CryptoKeyhole's reading of the addresses the government's Bitcoin Office publishes, on its own Bitcoin node.

Did Germany sell its bitcoin?

Yes. CryptoKeyhole reads Saxony's prosecutors' statement of 16 July 2024: the about 49,858 BTC transferred to them on 16 January 2024 were sold between 19 June and 12 July 2024 for EUR 2.64 billion, held until the criminal case ends.

Why are Bhutan and China not listed?

CryptoKeyhole lists a government only when the government itself publishes a figure or its addresses. Bhutan's holdings and those attributed to China are analytics firms' estimates.

Open the government holdings chart All free tools

Figures are as governments' own documents state them, and El Salvador's as its published addresses hold them on our own node, compiled by CryptoKeyhole.