On January 5th, analyst Serenity disclosed that, based on publicly available information, the Maduro regime in Venezuela has accumulated over $60 billion worth of Bitcoin and USDT "shadow reserves," established since 2018 through "gold swaps" and requiring oil exports to be settled in USDT to circumvent sanctions. Previously, due to the failure of Venezuela's "petro" cryptocurrency experiment, the Maduro regime turned to USDT as a substitute for petrodollars during crude oil sales. Realizing that USDT still functions as a frozen address, Venezuela began exchanging USDT for Bitcoin. The approximate holdings of Venezuela can be estimated as follows:
Bitcoin accumulated through gold swaps between 2018 and 2020, with gold proceeds converted into Bitcoin at an average price of $5,000, is currently worth approximately $45 billion to $50 billion.
Bitcoin acquired from crude oil exports between 2023 and 2025 is currently valued at approximately $10 billion to $15 billion.
Approximately $500 million worth of Bitcoin was seized through mining operations in 2023-2024.
In total, the total value of Bitcoin accumulated in Venezuela between 2018 and 2026 is estimated to be between $56 billion and $67 billion, implying more than 660,000 Bitcoins, with a minimum of 600,000. Even with Maduro's current arrest, it doesn't mean the US has complete control over these Bitcoins. The upcoming major trial surrounding Maduro will reshape the global Bitcoin market landscape.
