Among the states with the largest Bitcoin holdings is the US government – Arkham

The United States government is one of the largest holders of cryptocurrency alongside other international governments such as the United Kingdom and Germany, according to data from Arkham.

Arkham, which focuses on revealing the identity of entities on the blockchain network, has introduced a dashboard showing the governments with the largest holdings of crypto.

Announcing the news on April 12, Arkham said the United States, United Kingdom and Germany are “some of the biggest countries” in crypto holdings.

With the new Arkham tracking tool, individuals can view real-time balances and transaction history of government-owned cryptocurrencies.

According to the data, the US government is the biggest Bitcoin (BTC) whale among the international governments tracked by Arkham, holding up to 212,847 BTC at the time of writing, which is worth nearly $15 billion at the current price.

In addition to BTC, the US government holds around $200 million in major stoccoins like Ether (ETH) and USDC (USDC) and Tether (USDT).

The United Kingdom's government is in second place, holding 61,245 BTC at the time of writing, which is worth about $4.5 billion, according to Arkham data. The German government has 49,858 BTC worth approximately $3.5 billion at the time of writing.

The government of El Salvador – the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender in September 2021 – holds significantly less BTC than any other country tracked by Arkham.

According to the data, at the time of writing, the Salvadoran government holds 5,717 BTC worth $405 million.

Related: Queensland Law Enforcement Agency Requests More Powers to Seize Crypto

The release of Arkham's top government dashboard on Bitcoin holdings is a milestone in the transparency of cryptocurrency assets held by whales like nation states.

At the same time, it has been a while since the public found out about the huge BTC holdings by the United States government.

The dashboard also indicates that the US has accumulated bitcoins over the past few years. As of early 2023, the US government has added at least 5,000 BTC based on Arkham's data and previous reports.

A significant portion of the US government's Bitcoin holdings come from raids related to dark web market Silk Road, hacker Jimmy Zhong, and hackers of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

Magazine: Syntex Founder: DeFi is the problem, not the market.