How governments of different countries manage their Bitcoin assets.

According to the analytics firm Arkham, several countries own bitcoins with a total value of $17.8 billion, raising concerns about potential liquidations and their impact on the cryptocurrency market.

Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and El Salvador hold significant bitcoin reserves, each approaching the management of their digital assets differently.

The U.S. government owns the largest bitcoin portfolio, valued at $12 billion. A large portion of these assets was seized during high-profile criminal cases, such as the shutdown of the darknet marketplace Silk Road in 2013.

Typically, U.S. authorities auction off confiscated bitcoins, but recent events indicate a shift towards a more market-oriented approach, including over-the-counter (OTC) sales. However, the timing of future sales remains unclear, as the U.S. government usually keeps its plans secret to prevent market manipulation.

The British authorities hold bitcoin assets worth about $3.3 billion, and much of it is also linked to law enforcement activities. The United Kingdom does not like to publicize its plans, but it is known that the country's tax authorities have previously auctioned off confiscated cryptocurrency.

Recently, Germany's bitcoin assets, valued at approximately $2.2 billion, have attracted media attention because the government decided to sell more than $1 billion worth of confiscated cryptocurrency through OTC transactions. This move is under close market scrutiny, as German authorities previously preferred to hold onto confiscated digital assets.

However, El Salvador has taken a different approach, accumulating bitcoins worth $314 million as part of a national strategy to adopt BTC as legal tender. Unlike other countries, El Salvador's bitcoin treasury was formed through strategic investments rather than asset confiscation.