The US government becomes a major holder of Bitcoin worth 800 billion yen

In the financial market, large investors are called 'whales' because they buy stocks all at once. As of 2023, it has been revealed that one of the whales in the Bitcoin market is the US government, which holds 200,000 BTC (equivalent to $5 billion or 800 billion yen) in Bitcoin.

Why the US Government Has $5 Billion in Bitcoin - WSJ

Whales In High Places: US Government's Staggering Bitcoin Holdings Revealed | Bitcoin Insider

According to data from research firm 21.co, the amount of Bitcoin held by the US government is 194,188 BTC. This is equivalent to 5,505,970,891 dollars, which is equivalent to 824.6 billion yen in Japanese yen.

The Bitcoin held by the US government was obtained through seizure, and in October 2020, it seized 69,369 BTC held by Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark site Silk Road. In January 2022, 94,643 BTC was seized in connection with the hacking of the virtual currency exchange 'Bitfinex.' In May 2022, 51,326 BTC was seized from James Chong, who stole BTC from Silk Road.

Forensic: US Government Bitcoin Holdings
https://dune.com/21co/us-gov-bitcoin-holdings

However, the reason why the U.S. government continues to hold Bitcoin is because it takes time to complete the legal process from the time it is seized until the court issues a final order to turn it into cash, and the purpose is to use it to make a profit. Not.

In fact, the US government plans to sell 9,800 BTC in March 2023, and an additional 41,500 BTC of the Bitcoins seized in connection with the Silk Road. The remaining portion is also expected to be sold by the end of 2023.

By the way, the price of Bitcoin in 2016, when the aforementioned virtual currency exchange 'Bitfinex' was hacked, was about 600 dollars (about 90,000 yen). After that, in 2022, when the Ministry of Justice seized it, it rose to $44,000 (about 6.6 million yen), and as of October 2023, it remains at about $27,000 (about 4 million yen).