‘Remains to be seen’ if U.S will seize Venezuela’s Bitcoin stash – SEC chair

Paul Atkins, Chairman of the Securities and Trade Fee (SEC), has expressed uncertainty about whether or not the U.S will seize the alleged $60 billion in Bitcoin held by Venezuela. 

When requested whether or not the U.S authorities would go for the BTC stash in a latest interview with Fox Enterprise, he said,

“That is still to be seen. However I’m not concerned with that, and I’ll depart it for others within the Administration to cope with that.”

Following latest U.S possession claims on Venezuelan oil after capturing President Nicolas Maduro, there was hypothesis that it may go for its alleged $60 billion price of BTC. 

Nonetheless, on the time of writing, the existence of Venezuela’s purported Bitcoin stash was but to be confirmed. 

Even the blockchain intelligence platform Arkham was but to confirm the Bitcoin stash claims. In a latest assertion, Matteo Colledan, VP of Enterprise improvement at Arkham, mentioned, 

“We now have not recognized any such holdings at current. We’re nonetheless assessing whether or not any holdings exist.”

Assessing Venezuela’s crypto adoption

Venezuela emerged because the fourth-largest nation in LATAM based mostly on the worth of cryptocurrency acquired between mid-2024 and mid-2025, based on Chainalysis data. It acquired $44.6 billion throughout this era. 

Supply: Chainalysis 

In accordance with the blockchain safety agency Chainalysis, the huge adoption of crypto in LATAM has been fueled by persistent inflation and sanctions. For residents, it emerged as a brand new lifeline after hyperinflation. 

Nonetheless, for the Venezuelan authorities, it was reportedly a device to bypass U.S sanctions on its oil sector, notably by USDT and Bitcoin. Sanctioned crypto flows featured prominently in illicit crypto actions in 2025, from Venezuela to Russia.

In reality, Chainalysis highlighted that inflows into sanctioned addresses and jurisdictions surged by 694% in 2025. This coincided with an increase in geopolitical tensions. 

Supply: Chainalysis 

Probably the most most well-liked crypto belongings to bypass capital controls have change into stablecoins and Bitcoin. 

Value declaring, nonetheless, that speculations have positioned the alleged “shadowy” Venezuelan BTC stash at round 600,000 cash. That will be price $56.4 billion on the press time market value of $94k per coin. 

Alas, on the time of writing, the official and verified BTC at present held by the Venezuelan authorities was price solely $22.61 million (240 BTC), based on Bitcoin Treasuries data. It stays to be seen whether or not the remainder of the alleged stash will probably be totally accounted for. 

Remaining Ideas

• SEC Chair Paul Atkins expressed uncertainty in regards to the U.S authorities’s subsequent steps relating to the alleged Venezuelan crypto stash. 
• At press time, verified Venezuelan authorities addresses held solely $22.6 million price of BTC.