{"id":390573,"date":"2019-07-22T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/?p=390573"},"modified":"2019-07-22T09:48:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T09:48:52","slug":"bulgaria-big-on-bitcoin-as-reserves-could-exceed-its-gold-stash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/news\/bulgaria-big-on-bitcoin-as-reserves-could-exceed-its-gold-stash\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulgaria Big On Bitcoin As Reserves Could Exceed Its Gold Stash"},"content":{"rendered":"
There is a growing trend across the world for nations to stock up on reserves of assets as a hedge against fiat and influences beyond their control. Gold is the standard but Bitcoin is rapidly catching up and one nation now has reportedly more BTC than their gold reserves. As further investigation reveals, however, this may not have been a state orchestrated move and appears to be still one that they are trying to deny.<\/p>\n
Bulgaria has become the first nation in the world to hold more Bitcoin than it has gold. According to reports the country holds more than 200,000 BTC, worth around $2.1 billion at today\u2019s prices<\/a>. In comparison it only has around 40 tons of gold which is currently valued at around $1.8 billion.<\/p>\n A press release<\/a> by the Southeast European Law Enforcement Centre (SELEC) in May 2017 revealed that Bulgarian authorities had half a million dollars\u2019 worth of BTC at prices back then. With the recent rally their Bitcoin stash is now worth more than their gold reserves.<\/p>\n The release was part of an investigation into organized crime and the investment into digital assets, it added:<\/p>\n \u201cIt was determined that the members of the organized crime group invested the money obtained from these illegal activities in bitcoins, around 200,000 being discovered in the virtual space.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The investigators were able to determine that exactly 213,519 BTC and a substantial amount of cash was seized in the raids. As a result, the Bulgarian government now has over $2 billion worth of digital currency.<\/p>\n The original story was reported at the end of 2017 but the government remained rather coy about their Bitcoin holdings. Several conflicting stories emerged, one asserting that the Bulgarian Interior Ministry sold the stash to fund a new air force squadron. This was refuted by various crypto media outlets.<\/p>\nStash or No Stash?<\/h2>\n