Data from Arkham shows that a number of governments have a significant amount of Bitcoin in their possession.
The crypto analytics firm revealed that at current prices, these governments hold a total of $17.8 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Substantial holdings
According to the data, the governments in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States have seized substantial holdings of Bitcoin due to various criminal cases.
Meanwhile, the government in El Salvador has purchased a significant number of Bitcoins for its treasury.
The largest share of Bitcoin is held by the United States government, as it has about $12 billion worth of Bitcoin. It is believed that most of these tokens were seized in a number of high-profile cases.
The most prominent case was the Silk Road one in 2013. Later on, operations were also conducted in the darknet markets.
One of the largest crypto seizures in history was made by the United States government back in 2020. It seized approximately $1 billion worth of Bitcoin in the Silk Road bust.
Traditionally, the US government has sold the seized Bitcoin via auctions. Since 2014, the US Marshals Service has been overseeing these auctions.
However, recent reports have revealed that the government is now changing its approach. It has shifted to a market-based approach like making over-the-counter (OTC) sales.
But, there is no timeline provided for future sales. It is normal for the government to not announce its plans ahead of time to ensure there is no market manipulation.
UK government
The analysis from Arkham also shows that Bitcoin worth $3.3 billion at current prices is also in the possession of the government of the United Kingdom.
The majority of these tokens were obtained as a result of various operations conducted by law enforcement agencies.
The Metropolitan Police conducted a money laundering investigation in 2021 in which it seized bitcoin worth $250 million at the time.
The UK government has not been very vocal about what it plans to do with the seized cryptocurrency.
However, HM Revenue and Customers (HMRC) i.e. the tax authority in the UK, has previously conducted auctions of the seized tokens.
Nonetheless, there is not much information available about potential auctions or sales of the Bitcoin holdings in possession of the government.
Other governments
The Bitcoin holdings of the German government have made headlines recently, as they have climbed to $2.2 billion.
German authorities had announced back in February that it planned to sell crypto worth $1.08 billion, mostly Bitcoin.
Previously, the government had chosen to hold onto the confiscated digital assets. This move marks a significant shift in the German government’s strategy.
To keep market impact to a minimum, the German government has chosen to sell the assets gradually via over-the-counter (OTC) sales.
This move would be one of the largest crypto liquidations by a government until now. Market participants are keeping a close eye on governments that have digital assets in their possession.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin holdings of the El Salvador government are valued at $314 million. The only difference is that it has purchased the token.