Rumors that the Venezuelan government holds a massive, secret Bitcoin treasury worth approximately $60 billion have been met with widespread skepticism and a lack of on-chain evidence. The claims, which originated from a newsletter by journalist Bradley Hope, suggest the regime of President Nicolás Maduro could possess around 600,000 BTC, equivalent to 3.2% of Bitcoin's total mined supply.
However, multiple blockchain forensics firms have stated they cannot verify the existence of such holdings. Matteo Colledan, VP of business development at Arkham, told DL News, "We have not identified any such holdings at present. We are still assessing whether any holdings exist." Similarly, Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, noted that while investigating, "we are not currently seeing onchain data that supports the existence of a large, centrally managed Venezuelan state Bitcoin treasury anywhere near the scale being suggested."
The only verifiable on-chain data points to official government wallets containing just 240 BTC, a stark contrast to the rumored billions. Frank Weert, co-founder of Whale Alert, emphasized the implausibility of hiding such a large sum, stating the claims require "very strong evidence" and that if true, "they are really really good at hiding it."
Experts point out that Venezuela's actual crypto exposure is more "fragmented, opportunistic, and adaptive," driven by citizen adoption amid hyperinflation—which reached 500% in 2025—and state use for cross-border transactions, rather than a deliberate sovereign reserve accumulation. The government previously launched the failed Petro stablecoin in 2018 and has seized Bitcoin mining equipment.
