United States | Wiki | Mapping Bitcoin

The United States holds the world's largest sovereign Bitcoin reserve, estimated at approximately 328,372 BTC as of February 2026. These holdings are primarily the result of law enforcement seizures from criminal cases. In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, formally designating these seized bitcoins as a permanent national reserve asset — a landmark policy shift that signaled the US government's recognition of Bitcoin as a strategic resource.

Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

On March 6, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order creating the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). Key provisions:

• All Bitcoin held by the federal government is consolidated into a single reserve
• The government will not sell Bitcoin from the reserve — it is to be maintained as a permanent store of value, analogous to the gold reserves at Fort Knox
• The Treasury and Commerce departments are directed to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin
• A separate Digital Asset Stockpile was created for non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies seized by the government

This executive order fulfilled a campaign promise Trump made at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville. However, as of March 2026, the order has largely awaited congressional action to be fully operationalized. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the BITCOIN Act of 2025 (S.954), proposing the acquisition of 200,000 BTC per year for five years (1 million total), funded by Fed remittances and gold certificate revaluations, to be held for a minimum of 20 years.

State-Level Reserves

Several US states have moved ahead with their own Bitcoin reserves:

• Texas: Passed SB 21 and executed the first $5 million BTC purchase in November 2025
• Arizona: Signed HB 2749 into law (unclaimed property approach)
• New Hampshire: Enacted Bitcoin reserve legislation
• 20+ other states have introduced Bitcoin reserve proposals

Origins of US Government Bitcoin

The US government's Bitcoin holdings come almost entirely from criminal seizures:

Silk Road Seizures

• 2013: The FBI seized approximately 144,000 BTC from the Silk Road marketplace after shutting it down and arresting its operator, Ross Ulbricht
• November 2020: An additional 69,370 BTC were seized from "Individual X," a hacker who had stolen from Silk Road in 2012. This was one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in history

Bitfinex Hack Recovery

• February 2022: The DOJ seized approximately 94,000 BTC connected to the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. This was the largest financial seizure in DOJ history at the time

James Zhong Case

• November 2022: James Zhong, who had exploited a bug in Silk Road to steal approximately 50,000 BTC in 2012, surrendered his holdings to the DOJ

Other Seizures

• Various smaller seizures from drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud cases across FBI, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation, and US Marshals Service

On-Chain Traceability

US government Bitcoin wallets are tracked by blockchain analytics firms, most notably Arkham Intelligence, which maintains a public dashboard of known government-associated wallets. The holdings are distributed across multiple wallets held by different agencies including the FBI, DOJ, DEA, and various US Attorney's Offices. Government wallet movements frequently generate market attention when large transfers occur.

Regulatory Framework

The United States has a complex, multi-agency regulatory framework for Bitcoin:

• CFTC: Regulates Bitcoin as a commodity; oversees Bitcoin futures and derivatives
• SEC: Has claimed jurisdiction over various crypto assets (though not Bitcoin itself as of 2025); approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024
• IRS: Treats Bitcoin as property for tax purposes; capital gains tax applies to sales
• FinCEN: Regulates Bitcoin businesses as money services businesses (MSBs)
• OCC: Has issued guidance allowing national banks to custody crypto assets
• State level: Varies by state — New York's BitLicense (2015) is the most restrictive; Wyoming and Texas have passed pro-Bitcoin legislation

Spot Bitcoin ETFs

In January 2024, the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, marking a watershed moment for institutional adoption. Within months, these ETFs attracted over $50 billion in assets under management. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) became the fastest-growing ETF in history, reaching $10 billion in AUM in just seven weeks.

Bitcoin Industry

The United States hosts the largest concentration of Bitcoin companies in the world:

• Exchanges: Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, River
• Infrastructure: Lightning Labs, Block (formerly Square), Strike
• Mining: Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, CleanSpark (US has become the world's largest Bitcoin mining hub since China's 2021 ban)
• Investment: Galaxy Digital, ARK Invest, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)
• Media: Bitcoin Magazine, CoinDesk

News Timeline

News last updated: April 2026

External Links

• US Government Bitcoin Holdings — Arkham Intelligence
• Executive Order on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
• Bitcoin 2024 Conference
• IRS Cryptocurrency Guidance

See Also

• Bitcoin Foundation — first major Bitcoin industry organization, based in Washington, D.C.
• Coinbase — largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange
• Lightning Labs — Lightning Network development company
• Block, Inc. — Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin-focused company
• Strategy — largest corporate Bitcoin holder, based in Virginia
• Bitcoin 2024 — major Bitcoin conference in Nashville
• Strike — Bitcoin payments company