Nation-States Surpass Individuals in Bitcoin Adoption
Cryptocurrency analyst Willy Woo reported that Bitcoin (BTC) adoption by nation-states is now surpassing individual ownership. According to a chart from Bitcoin-native company River, the number of countries holding Bitcoin increased from two in 2016 to 23 by 2025. During that same year, individuals reduced their Bitcoin holdings by 696,000 BTC, while nation-states added 135,000 BTC. River projects that individual Bitcoin ownership will continue to decline by 2036, while government and corporate holdings are expected to rise significantly.
Woo noted that about 5% of the global population owns Bitcoin, with 12% of countries holding some and 8% of nations having policies to acquire or hold it. The United States leads in nation-state Bitcoin reserves, holding 324,527 BTC, worth nearly $28 billion, according to on-chain analytics firm Arkham. The majority of these holdings were seized through criminal and civil forfeiture proceedings, making the U.S. the nation-state with the largest BTC reserves, followed by China and the U.K.
Last year, former President Trump signed an executive order to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded entirely with BTC already held through criminal and civil asset forfeiture. The order directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to find budget-neutral ways to acquire more BTC.
As of the report, BTC was down 0.10% in the last 24 hours, trading at $85,905, according to Benzinga Pro.