Nicholas Otieno
03 November 2022 at 06:30
Despite its harsh stance on cryptocurrencies, the Chinese government could still hold large amounts of bitcoins.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of cryptocurrency analysis platform CryptoQuant, said on Thursday Inform His followers through his tweets in which he described the Chinese government as a crypto-whale.
Key went on to explain that Chinese authorities seized 194,000 bitcoins from the PlusToken scam in 2019 and hold digital assets worth $6 billion in their national treasury. His analysis shows that China's Bitcoin holdings (194,000 BTC) are more than MicroStrategy's 130,000 BTC.
If his assessment is correct, the Chinese government is one of Bitcoin's biggest whales. But the important question is why does China continue to hold such crypto assets when it is known as an anti-cryptocurrency? The answer seems obvious, as owning large amounts of these currencies can give them the leverage to move the market and make money – everyone wants to make money in this world.
CEO of CryptoQuant Comment: The Chinese government “may own BTC because it can diversify its portfolio and give it control over the cryptocurrency markets.”
In November 2020, Chinese authorities Arrested 109 individuals suspected of involvement in the PlusToken cryptocurrency scam. A police crackdown on a Ponzi scheme led to the seizure of billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies.
South Korea-based PlusToken is marketed as a high-yield investment opportunity for traders interested in cryptocurrencies. The investment vehicle promised monthly returns of between 9% and 18% to investors mainly based in China and South Korea, who then stored Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and EOS on the platform.
Chinese court document included 194,775 BTC, 833,083 ETH, 487 million XRP, 79,581 BCH, 1.4 million LTC, 27.6 million EOS, 74,167 DASH, 6 billion DOGE, and 213,724 USDT were confiscated by law enforcement. From scam operators. During that period, digital assets were worth about $4 billion, according to the report.
According to the court report, the proceeds of the seized digital assets were confiscated to the National Treasury, but again it is not clear whether Chinese authorities disposed of cryptocurrencies or sold them in bulk for fiat currency.
Along with China, the United States is also the biggest Bitcoin whale with its seizure of cryptocurrencies, for example, from the notorious company. Silk Road darkenet market and other seizures. according to Media reportThe US government owns 1% of the total Bitcoin supply. Although the government usually auctions off seized bitcoins, it still holds about $4.08 billion worth of cryptocurrencies.
Other governments have also been identified as holding massive amounts of Bitcoin. For example, Ukraine He carries Up to $2.01 billion worth of Bitcoin through donations. The Bulgarian government owns large amounts of cryptocurrency. El Salvador too He carries Large amounts of Bitcoin through its current government initiative.
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