The US government holds approximately 306,790 to 306,795 Bitcoin and about 17,430 to 17,432 Ether, according to figures shared on X and estimates from on-chain analytics platforms Onchain Lens and Arkham Intelligence. The precise totals and valuations vary across trackers, which monitor government-linked wallets rather than relying on a single official public accounting.
Bitcoin makes up nearly all the value. One set of estimates puts the government’s BTC holdings at about $20.28 billion, while the analytics platforms value a slightly larger balance at roughly $20.48 billion. The Ether holdings are estimated at around $33 million. With smaller positions in assets including WBNB, USDC and USDT, estimates for the government’s overall cryptocurrency portfolio range from approximately $20.57 billion to $20.7 billion.
The reported Bitcoin price used in the research is about $67,000 per coin. At that level, a $1,000 change in Bitcoin’s price would alter the value of the federal holding by roughly $300 million, illustrating how heavily the portfolio depends on the cryptocurrency’s market price.
The government accumulated most of its Bitcoin through criminal and civil asset forfeitures, rather than through direct purchases. Among the best-known sources are coins seized in connection with the Silk Road darknet marketplace and the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack. The Bitfinex case alone resulted in the seizure of more than 94,000 BTC—close to one-third of the government’s reported Bitcoin balance.
For years, seized cryptocurrency was generally auctioned. That approach shifted in March 2025, when an executive order established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and directed that forfeited Bitcoin be held indefinitely as a reserve asset rather than sold. The order also created a separate US Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin holdings, including Ether, stablecoins and other tokens.
Recent blockchain activity included the movement of roughly $1 billion in Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime custody addresses. No Bitcoin sales have been confirmed under the current reserve policy, and the transfers appear consistent with custody management rather than disposal. Still, blockchain movements are closely watched: Arkham Intelligence and Onchain Lens label hundreds of addresses associated with federal holdings, and significant transactions can quickly attract public attention.
Investors are likely to monitor whether the reserve policy changes, whether future forfeitures add to the government’s holdings, and how officials manage assets in the separate Digital Asset Stockpile. The United States has become one of the largest sovereign holders of digital assets largely through seizures. What began as cryptocurrency taken in law-enforcement cases is now a formal reserve position valued in the tens of billions of dollars.
