Bulgaria has more Bitcoin holdings than gold reserves
- Investigators claim that Bulgaria has 213,519 BTC.
- The country has $2.1 billion in BTC as opposed to $1.8 billion in gold.
Bulgaria has been covertly stockpiling Bitcoins, so much so that their BTC reserve has surpassed its gold holdings. Back in May 2017, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Centre (SELEC) issued a press release that the country has over 200,000 BTC (around $2.1 billion) as opposed to just 40 tons in gold (around $1.8 billion). The release stated:
“It was determined that the members of the organized crime group invested the money obtained from these illegal activities in bitcoins, around 200,000 being discovered in the virtual space.”
The investigators determined that they had precisely 213,519 BTC. Strangely enough, the Bulgarian Government has remained relatively silent regarding their alleged holdings. There have been several rumors floating around about these mysterious Bitcoins. One of these rumors stated that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry sold the stash to fund a new air force squadron. Various crypto media outlets immediately trashed this. The Government’s continued reluctance to reveal the Bitcoin addresses hints that they are likely still in control of the Bitcoin holdings.
Author
Rajarshi Mitra
Independent Analyst
Rajarshi entered the blockchain space in 2016. He is a blockchain researcher who has worked for Blockgeeks and has done research work for several ICOs. He gets regularly invited to give talks on the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
