When Bitcoin first launched in 2009, many investors dismissed the currency as a fringe concept and even as a scam. (Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s former right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway, memorably called it “stupid and evil.”) But the asset has skyrocketed in value in recent years and President Donald Trump labeled the currency “digital gold” after signing an executive order to create a strategic bitcoin reserve last January. Now, reports allege that Venezuela has bought into that “digital gold,” holding a “shadow reserve” nearly double that of the U.S.
Digital publication Project Brazen reported Saturday that Venezuela could hold an estimated $60 billion worth of Bitcoin. Additional intelligence reports allege that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his associates accrued Bitcoin via three channels: a gold swap overseen by Venezuelan Interior Minister Alex Saab in 2018, oil revenue priced in Bitcoin, and by seizing crypto mining equipment from miners in the country.
Sanctions have walled off the country’s access to financial markets for years, and experts allege that they may have motivated Venezuelan leaders to invest in cryptocurrencies to sidestep the barrier.
Bitcointreasuries.net puts Venezuela’s holdings at 240 bitcoin, worth nearly $22 million. The website sourced the data from a 2022 Forbes article that cited research from a blockchain analytics firm. The total is a far cry from the estimated U.S. holdings of 328,372, currently worth $30 billion, though the claim positions Venezuela’s holdings at nearly double the U.S. and one of the biggest holders of bitcoin globally.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/much-corruption-embezzlement-missing-money-173953597.html
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