Signage for Bitcoin cryptocurrency in Hong Kong, Nov. 26, 2025.
Lam Yik | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
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 world monetary markets: bitcoin.
Venezuela is probably going sitting on sizable quantities of the cryptocurrency — a stash that could possibly be price billions of U.S. {dollars}, specialists instructed CNBC.
“It is very reasonable to imagine Venezuela had significant publicity to bitcoin,” mentioned Gui Gomes, founder and CEO of Latin America-based bitcoin agency OranjeBTC. “Provided that they had been excluded from the worldwide monetary system, in all probability they’d gold, bitcoin and a few {dollars} underneath their mattress.”
Sanctions levied in opposition to Venezuela restricted the nation’s entry to monetary markets. To work round this, the nation seemingly experimented with cryptocurrencies, specialists mentioned. They famous that it is nearly unattainable to establish the precise quantity of bitcoin Venezuela could also be sitting on, or the place these holdings could possibly be saved, as a result of 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 property would possibly quickly be on the transfer, they mentioned. And whether or not these bitcoins are bought, confiscated or exchanged, cryptocurrency holders might really feel the impression.
Billions in bitcoin?
Digital publication Venture Brazen reported Saturday that Venezuela might maintain roughly $60 billion, citing unnamed sources that weren’t confirmed by means of 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.web places Venezuela’s holdings at 240 bitcoin, price roughly $22 million. To succeed in this estimate they used knowledge from a blockchain analytics agency that was cited by a media outlet. Based mostly on their rankings, it could the ninth largest pile of bitcoin held by a authorities entity.
All these estimates have to be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the largest corporations 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 methods to amass its shadow reserve, Haun Ventures normal accomplice Diogo Mónica instructed CNBC.
“There are such a lot of [solutions] for bitcoin off the shelf, it’s truly very simple so that you can meet the edge of excessive safety” by means of these means, Mónica mentioned.
Consequently, any bitcoin held by Venezuela is probably going distributed throughout hundreds of crypto wallets underneath the management of assorted generals and different members of Maduro’s social gathering, making it tough to establish and monitor, in accordance with OranjeBTC’s Gomes.
On-chain evaluation can reveal transaction histories and balances of public addresses linked to {hardware} wallets, in accordance with blockchain evaluation agency Chainalysis. However these strategies can not supply conclusive insights into pockets house owners’ identities, making it tough for cybercrime specialists to establish which wallets belong to Venezuelan officers.
That mentioned, it is nonetheless possible that Venezuela might have amassed massive quantities of bitcoin in recent times to navigate the implications of its exclusion from world monetary markets, Andrew Fierman, head of nationwide safety intelligence at Chainalysis, instructed 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 overseas locales to trade tangible property for extra liquid funds.
“In the event that they’re prepared to ship a man on a personal jet with a ton of gold on board, it could make a number of sense that they might additionally search to make the most of crypto property for each retailer of wealth and in addition for cross-border commerce,” Fierman mentioned. He declined to estimate the worth of Venezuela’s holdings.
The South American nation additionally has a protracted historical past of experimenting with cryptocurrencies, Fierman mentioned. 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 property, it is also potential the Venezuelan authorities holds different cryptocurrencies moreover bitcoin, together with stablecoins, in accordance with Fierman.
Nevertheless, bitcoin would seemingly 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, mentioned Jorge Jraissati, president of the nonprofit Financial Inclusion Group. He added that a number of the regime’s bitcoins might have been acquired by means of 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 property. That was earlier than the nation fully outlawed the apply in 2024, citing power considerations.
Information from Hashrate index reveals 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.
What occurs subsequent?
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 accordance with Sebastian Pedro Bea, president and chief funding officer at ReserveOne.
“Anytime you have got a chaotic regime change, the property of that nation change into unstable, like individuals can simply steal stuff,” Bea mentioned. “I am not suggesting that is seemingly, however it’s extra seemingly right now than final week that, if they’ve bitcoin, a few of that bitcoin might find yourself on trade, or might find yourself being bought.”
That sell-off might dent bitcoin’s worth within the close to time period.
Alternatively, the U.S. might seize Venezuela’s bitcoin as a part of its enforcement actions, in accordance with Bea.
“Nothing is stopping the U.S. from doing extra enforcement actions that go after unhealthy actors [in Venezuela] who might occur to have a number of bitcoin,” Bea mentioned. “And after they do this, that bitcoin can go proper to Treasury.”
Some cryptocurrency holders have speculated the Trump administration might 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 could possibly be amassed in a tax-neutral method.
Chris Perkins, managing accomplice and president of funding agency CoinFund, mentioned it is unclear whether or not the U.S. might legally use Venezuela’s bitcoin to create its deliberate strategic reserve. Nevertheless, such a situation would finally be bullish for the asset, in accordance with the manager.
“… To the extent that the Trump administration comes into possession of a major quantity of bitcoin, do not count on them to dump it into the market,” mentioned Perkins, who served as a U.S. marine.
No matter occurs subsequent, the U.S.’ latest actions in Venezuela underscore the Trump administration’s capability and willingness to wield its energy to advance its coverage aims, which embody selling and advancing the digital property business, in accordance with Bea.
“Crypto appears to be an unintended beneficiary, long run, of the [U.S. military intervention in Venezuela],” Bea mentioned.
