$700 million in bitcoin found on UAE government addresses

The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) bitcoin reserves have turned out to be so large that this state is on the heels of Bhutan and ranked fourth among the countries with the largest amount of BTC.

Arkham analysts managed to identify the addresses where bitcoins are stored. In total, there are $700 million worth of coins stored there. These assets come from bitcoin mining operations carried out by Citadel, a public mining company controlled by the UAE Royal Group.

Unlike the United States and the United Kingdom, the UAE’s reserves do not come from police seizures of assets, but from mining operations with Citadel Mining. To date, they have mined approximately 9,300 BTC and still hold at least approximately 6,300 BTC.

Citadel Mining is 85% owned by 2pointzero, which is 100% owned by IHC. IHC, or International Holding Company, is a large multi-sectoral holding company from the United Arab Emirates with a portfolio of more than 1,300 subsidiaries in finance, healthcare, real estate, technology and other sectors. It is the most valuable public holding company in the Middle East, ultimately controlled by the Royal Group, a conglomerate owned by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

IHC is approximately 61% owned by UAE Royal Group. Together with Phoenix Group (a UAE-based public mining company) and the government-owned IHC, Citadel built an 80,000-square-meter bitcoin mining facility on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Phoenix Group also holds $3.2 million in BTC.

Source: Arkham