China's Bitcoin holdings near the United States: holding 194,000 BTC, PlusToken becomes an "invisible national reserve"?

January 27 News, the latest data shows that although China has fully banned cryptocurrency trading and mining since 2021, its official Bitcoin holdings have approached U.S. levels. Multiple estimates indicate that the Chinese government currently controls approximately 194,000 Bitcoins, mainly derived from assets seized in the 2019 PlusToken case, while the U.S. Bitcoin reserves are about 198,000, with some institutions even believing that the actual holdings in the U.S. could be as high as 328,000.

This comparison has attracted significant market attention because China maintains a tough stance on crypto assets at the policy level, yet at the national level, it holds a large amount of Bitcoin. Industry analysts believe that this “ban on the surface, holdings behind the scenes” structure reflects the special status of Bitcoin in national asset allocation. Some researchers point out that these Bitcoins are more like strategic reserves, functioning similarly to gold or foreign exchange, used to hedge and provide liquidity in extreme financial environments.

The PlusToken case became a key source of Bitcoin for China. The case involved large-scale illegal cryptocurrency asset transfers, which were subsequently seized and managed by law enforcement agencies, unexpectedly making China one of the world’s largest government-level Bitcoin holders. In contrast, Bitcoin in the U.S. mainly comes from asset seizures in multiple transnational law enforcement operations. The paths differ between the two countries, but the results are converging.

This phenomenon has also deepened external discussions about sovereign states’ participation in the Bitcoin system. Some economists believe that restrictions on public crypto trading in different countries do not equate to a denial of Bitcoin’s value attributes. On the contrary, government-held reserves suggest that Bitcoin is being viewed as a digital asset with long-term store-of-value potential.

For the market, the exposure of China’s Bitcoin reserves introduces a new variable. Investors are increasingly paying attention to the amount of Bitcoin held by various governments, as this not only affects market supply structures but also, to some extent, reflects a tacit recognition of digital assets by nations. As the gap between China and the U.S. in Bitcoin reserves continues to narrow, Bitcoin’s global strategic position is becoming increasingly clear.