After seizing 194,775 BTC during the infamous PlusToken scam, the Chinese government now owns more Bitcoin than MicroStrategy.
About $3.9 billion is the total market value of the Bitcoin holdings.
PlusToken-related MFers who used the same mixer are still sending $BTC to exchanges, for example, 50 BTC a week ago.https://t.co/FaYxPksmQw pic.twitter.com/tWgXa0hrVa
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) November 2, 2022
The authorities also seized 833,083 ETH, 1.4 million LTC, 27,6 million EOS, 74,167 DASH, 487 million XRP, 6 billion DOGE, 79,581 BCH, and 213,724 USDT in addition to the Bitcoin. The government owns cryptocurrency assets worth more than $5 billion in total.
China Outperforms Even MicroStrategy in Bitcoin Holdings
As a result, the Chinese government now owns more than 1% of all bitcoins in use. However, it is unknown what is happening with this cache right now. There are no updates from the government and no information on whether this has been sold.
The cryptocurrency assets were taken during the notorious PlusToken scam, a Ponzi operation that at the time stole between $2 and $2.9 billion. The seized tokens “will be processed accordance to laws” and “forfeited to the national treasury,” according to a Chinese court.
There is some worry in the market that if the nation sold the assets, it may have an impact on the market and the price of bitcoin. The worries are comparable to those that 140,000 BTC will be distributed to creditors under the Mt. Gox rehabilitation plan. That worry has been allayed, though.
But in this instance, China might dump a significant amount of bitcoin, which would harm the market. However, this is still just conjecture.
