BlockBeats News: On January 5, analyst Serenity revealed, based on publicly available data, that Venezuela's Maduro regime has accumulated a "shadow reserve" of over $6 billion in Bitcoin and USDT. Since 2018, the regime has built this reserve through "gold swaps" and by requiring USDT for oil exports to circumvent sanctions. Previously, after the failure of Venezuela's "Petro" cryptocurrency experiment, the Maduro regime shifted to using USDT as a substitute for oil dollars during crude sales. However, as Venezuela realized that USDT still had the capability to freeze addresses, the country began converting USDT into Bitcoin. The estimated breakdown of Venezuela's holdings is as follows:
The Bitcoin accumulated through gold swaps from 2018 to 2020, with gold gains converted into Bitcoin at an average price of $5,000, is currently valued at approximately $45 billion to $50 billion.
Bitcoin obtained from exporting crude oil from 2023 to 2025, currently valued at approximately $10 to 15 billion.
Approximately $500 million worth of Bitcoin was seized through mining-related confiscations in 2023-2024.
In general, Venezuela accumulated a total BTC value of approximately $56 billion to $67 billion between 2018 and 2026, implying a number of over 660,000 bitcoins, with a minimum of 600,000. Even if Maduro is currently arrested, it does not necessarily mean that the United States has fully controlled these bitcoins. Major trials involving Maduro will follow, which will reshape the global Bitcoin market landscape.