The US government holds about 2.8 times more Bitcoin than every other country combined, according to a chart Cointelegraph published on X on July 4. The claim tracks with on-chain data: Arkham attributes roughly 328,372 BTC to US government addresses, worth about $20.5 billion at Bitcoin's price of $62,578 as of July 4, 2026.
The 2.8x figure holds up, but only under one specific reading of the data. It compares the US stockpile against the verified holdings of other governments: the United Kingdom's roughly 61,000 BTC, Bhutan's 8,594 BTC, El Salvador's 6,135 BTC, and a long tail of smaller positions. Add those up and you get somewhere near 117,000 BTC, which puts the US at about 2.8 times the rest of the field.
The China asterisk
One country breaks the math: China. Estimates dating back to the 2019 PlusToken seizure credit Beijing with around 194,000 BTC, which would be the second-largest sovereign position in the world. Those coins have never been conclusively traced on-chain since the seizure, and there is no official confirmation that China still holds them rather than having quietly sold years ago.
Include China's disputed stash and the US lead collapses from 2.8x to roughly 1.05x. Exclude it and the headline number is accurate. Cointelegraph's chart takes the second view. Neither reading is wrong; they just answer different questions. Verified coins versus rumored coins.
Seized, not bought
Every satoshi in the US position arrived through law enforcement, not a purchase order. Arkham's attribution breaks the stockpile into four main buckets: 127,271 BTC from the Prince Holding Group forfeiture, 94,679 BTC recovered from Silk Road cases, 94,643 BTC from the Bitfinex hack prosecution, and 11,779 BTC from assorted DOJ and IRS actions.
That composition changed meaning in March 2025, when an executive order established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and directed that finally forfeited Bitcoin be retained rather than auctioned. Before that order, the US Marshals Service routinely sold seized coins, including auctions in the mid-2010s that moved tens of thousands of BTC at prices that look painful in hindsight. The policy shift converted a revolving evidence locker into a standing national position.
The contrast with other governments is sharp. El Salvador is the only nation that has consistently bought Bitcoin on the open market. Bhutan mines its coins with hydroelectric power. Germany liquidated its entire 50,000 BTC seizure pile in mid-2024. The UK's 61,000 BTC also traces back to a single seizure case and its disposal remains the subject of ongoing legal wrangling.
A $20.5 billion position in a fearful market
The dollar value of the stockpile moves with the market, and the market is nervous. Bitcoin trades at $62,578 as of July 4, 2026, up 1.1% over 24 hours and 3.9% on the week, while the Fear & Greed Index sits at 25, firmly in Fear territory. At February's readings the same pile was reported at $23 billion; the drawdown since then has shaved roughly $2.5 billion off the government's paper value.
Governments as a class hold a meaningful slice of the asset. CoinGecko's research put combined sovereign holdings at 463,741 BTC, about 2.3% of total supply, and the US share of that pool has only grown since the Prince Holding Group forfeiture landed.
There is a practical angle for anyone who holds or spends crypto: the retention policy removes a recurring source of sell pressure. US Marshals auctions used to hit the market in multi-thousand-BTC blocks. Under the reserve framework, those coins are shelved instead. Whether future administrations keep the policy is an open question, and a 328,000 BTC overhang controlled by one government is a number worth remembering during any policy fight over what to do with it.
Overview
Cointelegraph's claim that the US holds 2.8x more Bitcoin than every other country combined is accurate for verified holdings: roughly 328,372 BTC against about 117,000 BTC across the UK, Bhutan, El Salvador, and others. The figure excludes China's unverified 194,000 BTC, which would cut the lead to near parity if real. The entire US position came from seizures, led by the Prince Holding Group, Silk Road, and Bitfinex cases, and is now retained under the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve rather than auctioned. At $62,578 per BTC as of July 4, 2026, the stockpile is worth about $20.5 billion.
