Venezuela could be sitting on a big Bitcoin stash, experts say. Here’s what could happen next

Following President Nicolás Maduro’s deposition final weekend, all eyes are on Venezuela and its huge oil reserves. However there’s one other useful resource Maduro’s regime is believed to have had in abundance — an asset that, if liquidated or seized, would have implications for international monetary markets: bitcoin.

Venezuela is probably going sitting on sizable quantities of the cryptocurrency — a stash that might be value billions of U.S. {dollars}, specialists advised CNBC. 

“It is particularly reasonable to imagine Venezuela had significant publicity to bitcoin,” stated Gui Gomes, founder and CEO of Latin America-based bitcoin agency OranjeBTC. “On condition that they had been excluded from the worldwide monetary system, in all probability that they had gold, bitcoin and a few {dollars} below their mattress.”

Sanctions levied towards Venezuela restricted the nation’s entry to monetary markets. To work round this, the nation possible experimented with cryptocurrencies, specialists stated. They famous that it is nearly unattainable to determine the precise quantity of bitcoin Venezuela could also be sitting on, or the place these holdings might be saved, because of the privateness options of the decentralized asset and its underlying know-how. Nevertheless, one factor is obvious: If Maduro and his allies have tokens of their coffers, the belongings may quickly be on the transfer, they stated. And whether or not these bitcoins are offered, confiscated or exchanged, cryptocurrency holders may really feel the impression. 

Digital publication Undertaking Brazen reported Saturday that Venezuela may maintain roughly $60 billion, citing unnamed sources that weren’t confirmed via blockchain evaluation. Such a stash would put the regime among the many largest holders of the crypto on the planet, alongside bitcoin treasury agency Technique.

Information supplier Bitcointreasuries.internet places Venezuela’s holdings at 240 bitcoin, value roughly $22 million. To succeed in this estimate they used knowledge from a blockchain analytics agency that was cited by a media outlet. Primarily based on their rankings, it could the ninth largest pile of bitcoin held by a authorities entity.

All these estimates should be taken with a grain of salt. Lots of the largest companies providing crypto custodial options, together with digital asset financial institution Anchorage Digital and Fireblocks, are registered within the U.S. or allied nations, so Venezuela would have needed to flip to extra covert strategies to amass its shadow reserve, Haun Ventures common associate Diogo Mónica advised CNBC. 

“There are such a lot of [solutions] for bitcoin off the shelf, it’s truly very straightforward so that you can meet the brink of excessive safety” via these means, Mónica stated. 

Consequently, any bitcoin held by Venezuela is probably going distributed throughout hundreds of crypto wallets below the management of assorted generals and different members of Maduro’s get together, making it troublesome to determine and monitor, in line with OranjeBTC’s Gomes.

On-chain evaluation can reveal transaction histories and balances of public addresses linked to {hardware} wallets, in line with blockchain evaluation agency Chainalysis. However these strategies can’t provide conclusive insights into pockets house owners’ identities, making it troublesome for cybercrime specialists to determine which wallets belong to Venezuelan officers.

That stated, it is nonetheless possible that Venezuela may have amassed massive quantities of bitcoin in recent times to navigate the results of its exclusion from international monetary markets, Andrew Fierman, head of nationwide safety intelligence at Chainalysis, advised CNBC. 

He famous that the nation has a historical past of utilizing unorthodox strategies to transform and switch its wealth, together with by flying allies of Maduro to international locales to trade tangible belongings for extra liquid funds.

“In the event that they’re prepared to ship a man on a non-public jet with a ton of gold on board, it could make a whole lot of sense that they’d additionally search to make the most of crypto belongings for each retailer of wealth and likewise for cross-border commerce,” Fierman stated. He declined to estimate the worth of Venezuela’s holdings.  

The South American nation additionally has an extended historical past of experimenting with cryptocurrencies, Fierman stated. He cited the issuance in 2018 of a token known as petro, which later failed and was sunsetted in 2024, for instance. 

Given its historical past with digital belongings, it is also attainable the Venezuelan authorities holds different cryptocurrencies moreover bitcoin, together with stablecoins, in line with Fierman.

Nevertheless, bitcoin would possible be the favored asset as it’s issued by an agnostic community and has no direct ties to the U.S. greenback, not like most stablecoins, stated Jorge Jraissati, president of the nonprofit Financial Inclusion Group. He added that a number of the regime’s bitcoins may have been acquired via native authorities’ seizures of crypto miners’ token rewards. 

In 2017, CNBC reported on Venezuelan authorities’ efforts to curb crypto mining by arresting bitcoin miners and seizing their belongings. That was earlier than the nation fully outlawed the follow in 2024, citing power considerations. 

Information from Hashrate index exhibits that Venezuela nonetheless accounted for about 0.6% of all hash charges, a measure of energy used to mine tokens on the bitcoin blockchain as of 2025. 

Assuming Venezuela holds bitcoin, hypothesis abounds on what occurs subsequent. One risk is that the Maduro regime’s holdings will go up on the market, in line with Sebastian Pedro Bea, president and chief funding officer at ReserveOne.

“Anytime you have got a chaotic regime change, the belongings of that nation change into unstable, like individuals can simply steal stuff,” Bea stated. “I am not suggesting that is possible, however it’s extra possible at this time than final week that, if they’ve bitcoin, a few of that bitcoin may find yourself on trade, or may find yourself being offered.”

That sell-off may dent bitcoin’s value within the close to time period.

Alternatively, the U.S. may seize Venezuela’s bitcoin as a part of its enforcement actions, in line with Bea. 

“Nothing is stopping the U.S. from doing extra enforcement actions that go after unhealthy actors [in Venezuela] who may occur to have a whole lot of bitcoin,” Bea stated. “And once they try this, that bitcoin can go proper to Treasury.”

Some cryptocurrency holders have speculated the Trump administration may confiscate a few of Maduro and his allies’ bitcoin, with the purpose of making a U.S. bitcoin reserve for free of charge to taxpayers.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an govt order to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for free of charge to taxpayers — a central tenet of his pro-crypto coverage plans. Nevertheless, critics and proponents alike have questioned the logistics of the proposal, together with how bitcoin might be collected in a tax-neutral method.

Chris Perkins, managing associate and president of funding agency CoinFund, stated it is unclear whether or not the U.S. may legally use Venezuela’s bitcoin to create its deliberate strategic reserve. Nevertheless, such a situation would in the end be bullish for the asset, in line with the manager.

“… To the extent that the Trump administration comes into possession of a big quantity of bitcoin, do not anticipate them to dump it into the market,” stated Perkins, who served as a U.S. marine. 

No matter occurs subsequent, the U.S.’ current actions in Venezuela underscore the Trump administration’s means and willingness to wield its energy to advance its coverage goals, which embody selling and advancing the digital belongings business, in line with Bea.

“Crypto appears to be an unintended beneficiary, long run, of the [U.S. military intervention in Venezuela],” Bea stated.