The United States government has emerged as the largest Bitcoin holder among world powers, with an impressive 203,000 BTC in its possession. Recently, on August 14, 2024, the US government transferred about 10,000 Bitcoins to a wallet address ending with “noe,” as revealed by data from Arkham Intelligence. These Bitcoins, currently valued at around $593.91 million, were initially confiscated during the infamous Silk Road raids.
This notable transfer of Bitcoins follows another incident where the US government moved 29,800 BTC, roughly $2 billion, to an unidentified address in July 2024. Collectively, the United States government’s Bitcoin holdings are valued at approximately $12 billion.
The robust Bitcoin holdings of the US government have become a repeated talking point for 2024 Presidential candidate Donald Trump. If elected, Trump vows not to sell any of the government-held Bitcoin and has plans to establish a “strategic Bitcoin stockpile.” Moreover, he has suggested using Bitcoin to offset the US government’s $35 trillion national debt.
Large Bitcoin transactions by big players, or “whales,” usually trigger market volatility. An example of this was evident in July 2024, when the German government decided to offload its Bitcoin assets, causing a wave of fear, uncertainty, and doubt among crypto-investors.
The German government sold 50,000 Bitcoins, which were valued at around $2.9 billion at the time of trading, leaving its Bitcoin reserves at a meager 0.007 BTC. Crypto-analysts noted this move to be a financial misstep as the German government could have pocketed an additional $124 million in profit if they had waited for Bitcoin prices to rebound. The hasty sell-off by the German government has since been a source of humor within crypto circles.