Venezuela May Hold Over $60 Billion in BTC Shadow Reserves

Odaily News: Analyst SerenitySerenity posted on platform X, stating that intelligence reports indicate the Venezuelan regime has accumulated a shadow reserve of Bitcoin and USDT worth over $60 billion. This reserve was built to circumvent sanctions through gold swaps and by requiring oil exports to be settled in USDT.

According to related intelligence, Venezuela began accumulating crypto assets in 2018. The regime reportedly converted approximately $2 billion in gold proceeds into about 400,000 Bitcoins, with an average unit price of $5,000. Furthermore, between 2023 and 2025, Venezuela acquired roughly $10 billion to $15 billion in crypto assets through crude oil trade and converted them into Bitcoin due to USDT's freeze function. Current estimates place Venezuela's Bitcoin holdings between 600,000 and 660,000 coins, valued at approximately $56 billion to $67 billion.

Currently, Venezuela is ranked as the world's fourth-largest Bitcoin holder, with holdings trailing only Satoshi Nakamoto, BlackRock, and MicroStrategy, and exceeding the U.S. government's holdings of 325,000 coins. The U.S. government might potentially confiscate these assets by obtaining the seed phrases through plea deals, sentence reductions, or offers of protection for family members. If confiscated, these assets could be placed under the custody of the U.S. Treasury Department and enter a long-term lock-up, thereby reducing the circulating supply on the market.