12 countries in the world own 525,753 bitcoins worth almost $60 billion, which is 2.50% of coins in circulation. Ukraine ranks fourth on this list with about 463,51 BTC. Only the USA, China, and the UK have more, itc.ua writes.
The US government received its bitcoins thanks to a series of high-profile seizures – from the liquidation of the Silk Road marketplace to operations against the darknet and hacker groups. Thus, the US has accumulated almost 200,000 BTC. As of the beginning of 2025, their value is estimated at $22 billion.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed a decree on the creation of the Strategic BTC Reserve, consolidating all confiscated assets under federal control.
China remains one of the key players in terms of the number of bitcoins, although its position is less transparent. In 2019, the authorities confiscated more than 190,000 BTC in the PlusToken case. The fate of these coins remains unknown: some analysts believe that some were sold, others that they are stored in state wallets. The country still has a ban on trading and mining.
The United Kingdom is in third place, as it confiscated 61,245 BTC in 2021 in a money laundering case. The fate of these assets remains uncertain: should they be sold or left in the state reserve? If they keep them, Britain will join the club of the largest BTC owners.
In fifth place is the DPRK. Thanks to thefts by hacking groups Lazarus Group and others, North Korea managed to collect more than 14,000 BTC, of which, in 2025, assets worth more than $1 billion were sold.
