Venezuela's long-suspected Bitcoin treasure has been at the center since the US-led operation in January 2026, during which President Nicolás Maduro was arrested.
Intelligence reports suggest that the country may have built a 'shadow reserve' of 600,000 to 660,000 Bitcoins. Its value is between 60 billion and 67 billion USD. This makes Venezuela one of the largest Bitcoin holders in the world.
Maduro arrested: What does this mean for the Bitcoin price?
With an alleged supply of more than 600,000 Bitcoin tokens, Venezuela can easily compete with institutional giants like BlackRock and MicroStrategy. This revelation could fundamentally change the availability and sentiment in the Bitcoin market in 2026.
According to sources, the collection began in 2018. At that time, Venezuela used gold exchange actions, oil sales against Tether (USDT), and the seizure of mining domestically.
Between 2018 and 2020, Venezuela reportedly exported many tons of gold from the Orinoco Mining Arc. They converted approximately 2 billion USD of gold revenues at an average price of 5,000 USD per Bitcoin into BTC.
This position alone is currently worth about 36 billion USD and laid the foundation for the country's secret crypto reserve.
After the collapse of the state Petro coins, the Maduro government increasingly demanded that the state oil company PDVSA pay for crude oil exports from 2023 to 2025 in USDT. These stablecoins were then converted into Bitcoin to reduce the risk of account freezes and decrease dependence on the US dollar.
Additional holdings come from seized mining in Venezuela. Overall, the country is estimated to have accumulated more than 600,000 Bitcoin, or about three percent of the circulating supply.
The size of Venezuela's alleged reserves is much larger than previous state sales. For example, the German state of Saxony sold 50,000 Bitcoin (approximately 3 billion USD) in 2024, leading to a market decline of 15 to 20 percent.
In contrast, Venezuela's 600,000 Bitcoin, if seized or frozen, could have unprecedented effects on supply. This would reduce liquidity and likely lead to higher prices.
The US now faces important decisions regarding these reserves. According to reports, there are three possible scenarios:
The assets could be frozen through legal processes,
they could be included in a US Strategic BTC Reserve, or
sold through auctions (which is considered less likely).
Analysts believe it is most likely that the freezing of the assets or inclusion in a strategic reserve will occur.
Therefore, Venezuela's BTC reserves influence the global markets.
Such a decision would set the supply for five to ten years and create a bullish sentiment for Bitcoin and institutional holders like MicroStrategy.
Venezuela's Bitcoin treasure also shows the impressive crypto acceptance in the country. Due to high inflation, US sanctions, and the collapse of the Bolívar, many people used Bitcoin and stablecoins.
By the end of 2025, up to ten percent of supermarket purchases and almost 40 percent of peer-to-peer transactions were paid in crypto. Transfers using stablecoins accounted for nearly ten percent of inflows. Venezuela ranked approximately 17th in the global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis. In Latin America,
The arrest of Maduro brings new uncertainty. A transition government with US influence could:
loosen mining restrictions,
promote crypto-friendly regulations, and
advance the recovery of the alleged BTC holdings.
But as long as no private keys are handed over or legal questions are clarified, 600,000 Bitcoin remain practically "locked up." This causes short-term fluctuations but can trigger a long supply shock that drives up the Bitcoin price.
On the market, where every large holder counts, Venezuela's shadow reserve is an important and often overlooked factor in the global BTC dynamics.
If the US manages to freeze the assets, 2026 could bring unprecedented changes in supply, liquidity, and market sentiment.
Thus, the covert accumulation of a state could transform into one of the largest strategic Bitcoin reserves in history.