Bitcoin (BTC) is gaining more and more attention day by day with many different developments. This naturally increased the number of establishments holding BTC. So which of these institutions has the most BTC?
According to the data obtained, the US government is the institution holding the most Bitcoin (BTC) in the world. According to data shared by Kevin Rooke, one of the well-known names in the cryptocurrency world, the US government has 69,406 BTC. As we have already reported, these BTCs are known to be related to Silk Road. The US government had seized over $ 1 billion in Bitcoins linked to the closed Silk Road darknet marketplace. These BTCs are in the hands of the government at the moment, but are expected to be auctioned later.
After the US government comes the world-renowned Microstrategy, which owns 38,250,000 BTC. Galaxy Digital and Square follow Microstrategy.
USA details
Various departments of the United States government hold Bitcoins due to loss of assets in court cases. The first seizure of Bitcoin by the US government was on June 26, 2013, when the DEA seized 11.02 BTC from a Silk Road drug dealer in South Carolina.
Shortly thereafter, 173,991 BTC were seized in connection with the arrest of Ross Ulbricht and the Silk Road case in October 2013. In 2014 and 2015, government officials organized a series of public auction to exchange all their Bitcoins for cash. Government agencies continue to receive Bitcoins in connection with various federal criminal, civil and administrative matters.
3,813 BTC were auctioned on January 22, 2018 and 4,041.58 BTC were auctioned off on February 18, 2020. On November 3, 2020, 69,370 BTC related to Silk Road were seized.
Claim by Bulgaria
On the other hand, Celil Öztürk, one of the prominent names in the local cryptocurrency community who shared this data from Kevin Rooke on Twitter, also passed on the information provided by a follower on the subject. According to this information, a total of 213,519 BTC was seized in Bulgaria in May 2017 in connection with customs fraud. However, the fate of these BTCs is unknown. If the government still holds BTC, it may become the institution that holds the most BTC.
