Analysts remain skeptical about whether Venezuela holds 600,000 BTC.

[Analysts Remain Skeptical About Venezuela's Possibility of Holding 600,000 BTC] According to Mars Finance, on January 6th, the recent US action against Venezuelan President Maduro has reignited discussions about whether Venezuela holds undisclosed Bitcoin reserves. Investigative journalist Bradley Hope claims that the Venezuelan government may have converted gold into Bitcoin over the years, potentially amounting to 600,000 BTC, worth approximately $60 billion. However, several mainstream blockchain analysis institutions have not found any on-chain evidence to support this claim. Hope's figure of 600,000 BTC is not based on on-chain data but rather on mathematical extrapolation based on Venezuela's gold sales since 2018. Frank Weert, co-founder of Whale Alert, stated that if Venezuela truly held such a large amount of Bitcoin, it would be almost impossible to completely evade the tracking of blockchain analysis institutions, and such claims require "very strong evidence." Nevertheless, analysts point out that Venezuela has indeed been experimenting with cryptocurrencies for a long time. The country launched the oil-pegged national digital currency Petro and uses crypto payments in energy and cross-border transactions. Due to high inflation in its currency, Venezuela is projected to rank among the top 20 globally in cryptocurrency adoption by 2025. Currently, the Venezuelan government's holdings of crypto assets remain highly opaque. Multiple institutions, including Arkham, Chainalysis, and Elliptic, have not confirmed the existence of large-scale Bitcoin wallets directly linked to the government. Analysts believe that even if such assets exist, they are likely to be highly concealed through mixers, cross-chain transactions, and offshore OTC channels.