Claims are circulating that Venezuela could also be sitting on a big, undeclared bitcoin reserve constructed whereas navigating worldwide sanctions.
What the rumor claims
An analyst posting as SerenitySerenity on X cited unspecified “intelligence studies” alleging the Venezuelan authorities collected a shadow reserve value greater than $60 billion in bitcoin and USDT.
The publish claims the reserve was constructed by gold swaps and by requiring some oil exports to be settled in USDT.
Numbers cited within the report
In accordance with the claims, Venezuela started accumulating digital belongings in 2018.
It allegedly transformed about $2 billion in gold income into roughly 400,000 BTC at a mean worth of $5,000 per coin.
The report additionally claims that between 2023 and 2025, Venezuela obtained $10 billion to $15 billion in digital belongings through crude oil commerce, after which transformed these holdings into bitcoin because of USDT’s freezing threat.
It additional estimates Venezuela holds 600,000 to 660,000 BTC.
That vary would place it among the many world’s largest holders, comparable in measurement to entities tracked on Bitcoin Treasuries.
Seizure hypothesis
The publish additionally speculates the U.S. might try to seize any such holdings by providing plea offers, lowered sentences, or safety for members of the family in alternate for pockets seed phrases.
It claims seized bitcoin may very well be transferred to U.S. Treasury custody and held long run, much like different tracked authorities holdings such because the U.S. authorities’s bitcoin steadiness.
The analyst wrote:
“Intelligence studies point out the Venezuelan authorities has collected a shadow reserve of over $60 billion in Bitcoin and USDT.”