Original Author: Lila
In early June, a wallet labeled as "German government" began transferring BTC seized from the operator of the pirated movie website Movie2k to the trading platform. Similarly, a wallet holding BTC for a year without movement from the US government sent 4000 BTC to Coinbase on June 27, suspected to have initiated a selling mode. On the other hand, the progress of Mt.Gox compensation has once again been put on the agenda, and the repayment of BTC and BCH will truly begin in July.
In fact, according to incomplete data, from 2018 to the present, the governments of China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany have confiscated over 500,000 BTC from hackers, money launderers, and other criminals. Mt.Gox currently holds 140,000 BTC, accounting for 3.32% of the total BTC circulation.
Although the governments of various countries currently adopt a batch-by-batch and small-quantity approach to selling BTC, due to the fact that these countries are not inherently friendly to cryptocurrencies, the ultimate method of handling their BTC holdings is likely to be selling. Therefore, many users are very concerned about their holdings.
BlockBeats will briefly list the current BTC holdings and sales situations of major institutions and governments in this article, as well as how to track their addresses for monitoring, for readers' reference.
Government Holdings and Sales Situations
German Government—45,000 BTC
Previously holding 50,000 BTC, as of the time of writing, approximately 4736 BTC has been sold in batches in June, leaving 45,000 BTC. On June 25, 200 BTC was transferred to Coinbase and Kraken each; on June 26, 700 BTC was transferred to Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp. However, on June 27, 145 BTC was transferred back to the on-chain address.
United States Government—210,000 BTC
Compared to other countries, the United States government holds the largest amount of BTC and handles it relatively cautiously. Between November 2020 and 2022, the US authorities seized over 210,000 BTC in three separate actions, which were related to the dark web market Silk Road, Silk Road hacker Jimmy Zhong, and the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex hacker. Related reading: "The Shocking Bitcoin Heist on the Dark Web: Unveiling the Double Life of Jimmy Zhong".
The history of the US government selling Bitcoin is quite long. However, from July 2023 to March 2024, the US government has not sold any Bitcoin. According to on-chain records, the most recent sale was on June 27, when the US government address sent 4000 BTC to Coinbase Prime.
As of the time of writing, the US government still holds 213,546 BTC.
United Kingdom Government—61,000 BTC
The BTC held by the UK government mainly comes from the well-known "Operation Blue Sky" case. According to data, the UK government holds approximately 61,000 BTC, and as of the time of writing, there have been no outgoing transactions. Related reading: "The World's Largest Money Laundering Case: Over 61,000 BTC Seized, Mastermind Absconded with $6.3 Billion"
Chinese Government—194,000 BTC
The BTC held by the Chinese government originated from the famous PlusToken Ponzi scheme in 2020, with an estimated amount of around 194,000 BTC. However, no on-chain address markings have been found, making it difficult to confirm any selling records.
The "whales" represented by national governments cannot be ignored. However, according to data, the largest single sale of Bitcoin by the US government was in March 2023, when 9,861 BTC was sold for $216 million. If government sales continue to follow the "small quantity, multiple times" rhythm, the impact on market sentiment and prices will be smaller.
Mt.Gox—140,000 BTC
In addition to the aforementioned government holdings posing a major risk in the market, the bankrupt exchange Mt.Gox has also explicitly announced the commencement of BTC and BCH repayments. According to Mt.Gox's disclosed data, its addresses hold a total of 141,685 BTC for compensation.
On May 28, Mt.Gox's account addresses made a total of 10 transactions, transferring 141,685 BTC. This was the first action by Mt.Gox's cold wallet in five years, attracting high attention from the community. According to the latest email announcement from Nobuaki Kobayashi, the repayments will begin in July 2024. This will be the first time Mt.Gox has made repayments in the form of BTC and BCH, meaning that the 141,686 BTC (along with a similar amount of BCH) held by Mt.Gox will start flowing into the market. These BTC account for 0.72% of the total Bitcoin circulation supply, worth approximately $8.54 billion.
Previously, BlockBeats interviewed Mindao, one of the Mt.Gox creditors, who stated, "Because most creditors have already sold their money to those funds, this part of the selling pressure has long been hedged. Those of us who have been holding on until the end definitely won't sell at this time." Related reading: "Transferring 140,000 BTC in 6 Hours, Will Mt.Gox's Repayment Cause Significant Selling Pressure?", "Mt.Gox Token Repayment to Start in July, Things to Know in Advance"
On June 24, Galaxy Research Director Alex Thorn posted on the X platform, stating that the final distribution of tokens in the Mt.Gox bankruptcy case will be less than people imagine, and the Bitcoin selling pressure caused by Mt.Gox will be less than expected.
Other Institutions' and Organizations' BTC Holdings
In addition to governments, companies such as Tesla and MicroStrategy also hold BTC. After the approval of BTC ETF spot, companies such as BlackRock and Fidelity, which have opened BTC ETF investment funds, have also joined the ranks of BTC holders. As there have been many previous statistical articles, the text will not elaborate on the holdings and address tracking methods of the aforementioned companies. Related reading can be found in: "Unveiling the Top Bitcoin Holders: Global Wallet Address Analysis and Holdings"
The second half of the year remains optimistic, patiently waiting for positive news to be released.
The market experienced a significant decline in June, which has had a certain impact on investor confidence. However, the long-term outlook for cryptocurrencies remains optimistic. The long-awaited ETH ETF is on the horizon; the interest rate cut benefits have not yet materialized; presidential candidates Trump and Biden have both announced their acceptance of political donations in the form of cryptocurrencies, showing goodwill towards the cryptocurrency market. All signs indicate that as the global economy changes, cryptocurrencies have already established a presence in emerging economies. The second half of 2024 is worth looking forward to. Related reading: "Outlook for the Cryptocurrency Market in the Second Half of the Year: Multiple Benefits such as Elections and Interest Rate Cuts have not yet been Released, and a New Era may come after the Reform".
The bull market is far from over, please be patient and wait for the market to recover.
Attached: On-chain tracking URLs for the above large BTC holdings
Mt.Gox holding address: https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/mt-gox
US government holding address: https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/usg
German government holding address: https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/germany
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