Lookonchain APP

App Store

Opinion: 'Venezuela's $60 Billion Bitcoin Holdings' Claim Lacks Evidence

2026.01.08 12:21:44

January 8th Rumors have circulated that the Venezuelan government may secretly hold up to $60 billion in Bitcoin, but Mauricio Di Bartolomeo—co-founder of crypto firm Ledn, a Venezuela-based Bitcoin miner with longstanding industry ties—says the claim is rooted in speculation and secondhand information, lacking credible on-chain evidence. The rumors center on three key claims: that Venezuela swapped large-scale gold sales for Bitcoin in 2018, that some oil revenue was settled in Bitcoin or crypto, and that the government used confiscated or stolen mining rigs to mine the token. Di Bartolomeo acknowledges Venezuela did receive crypto in some oil transactions and has seized mining rigs, but emphasized there’s no credible proof the ~$2.7 billion from its 2018 gold sale was converted to Bitcoin. Alex Saab—the key figure in that 2018 deal, now Venezuela’s Industry and National Production Minister—was detained by the U.S. from 2020 to late 2023, when he was released as part of a prisoner exchange. If the regime controlled $10–20 billion in BTC (as some rumors suggest), it would contradict the ~$9.9 billion in official reserves the Venezuelan central bank disclosed at the time. Moreover, no on-chain address has ever been reliably linked to Saab or the Venezuelan state. Even if the regime earned crypto income, Venezuela’s deeply corrupt system would almost certainly keep those funds out of the national treasury, Di Bartolomeo noted. He cited the 2023 SUNACRIP (National Crypto Regulatory Authority) scandal, where officials embezzled ~$17.6 billion via illegal oil transactions between 2020 and 2023—a pattern he says likely extended to crypto assets. On the claim of large-scale mining with confiscated rigs, Di Bartolomeo is skeptical. Venezuela faces severe electricity shortages, aging infrastructure, and a mass exodus of technical talent; even state oil giant PDVSA struggles to operate effectively, making stable, large-scale Bitcoin mining farms unfeasible. “Venezuela does have Bitcoin,” he said, “but it’s not in the regime’s hands.”
Relevant content

After the release of Oracle's financing news, three accounts simultaneously opened short positions totaling $3.8 million.

Oracle’s financing documents were made public overnight, with plans to raise a total of $20 billion—$10 billion each via common stock issuance and senior notes. According to TradingBeats’ monitoring, roughly five and a half hours later, three addresses suspected to be controlled by the same entity sequentially opened short positions on ORCL, totaling approximately $3.6923 million in notional short exposure at a weighted average price of $120.36. The breakdown: 0x2885: ~$1.2318 million short at $120.45 average; 0xa8fc: ~$1.2305 million short at $120.39 average; 0xa83c: ~$1.23 million short at $120.24 average. As of press time, the ORCL contract trades at $119.33, down roughly 9.97% in 24 hours. The three short positions account for about 20.3% of the contract’s open interest (OI), generating an unrealized profit of ~$31,500.

10 minutes ago

Multiple stocks in the A-share optical module sector plummeted sharply, with Zhongji Innolight down 11.38%.

According to Bitget market data, Xinyisheng (300502) is quoted at 173.68 yuan, down 9.30%; Zhongji Xuchuang (300308) at 487.40 yuan, down 11.38%; and Tianfu Communication (300394) at 124.29 yuan, down 12.32%.

10 minutes ago

A certain ZEC short seller has placed a $10.7 million buy order, with plans to flip from a short position to a long one.

According to TradingBeats monitoring, a large whale wallet starting with 0x469e holds a ZEC short position valued at roughly $8.041 million, with an average entry price of $1,180.11, currently yielding an unrealized profit of around $351,000. While holding a sizeable short position, the whale has set up a buy plan exceeding its current position size. Early this morning, it added 99 regular limit buy orders in the $1,055–$1,100 range, targeting approximately 10,000 ZEC, with a total order value of about $10.775 million. ZEC is currently priced at $1,130.9, with the buy zone sitting 2.7% to 6.7% below the spot price. If all these buy orders are filled and no other position adjustments occur, the account will first close its short position to lock in profits, then flip to build a long position of around 2,889 ZEC. Separately, the account has another trading plan on the upside. Early this morning, it also placed 2,999 regular sell orders at $1,200, worth roughly $3.599 million, which is about 6.1% above the current price, with the plan to add more short positions after a price rebound. If this sell order is filled first, the existing short position will expand to approximately 10,100 ZEC.

10 minutes ago

Senior Iranian official: The U.S. and Iran are still far from reaching an agreement to end the war, and Tehran will not accept excessive demands from the U.S.

Senior Iranian officials said mediators are working to narrow the differences between Tehran and Washington, but the two sides remain far from reaching an agreement to end the conflict. The official added that Tehran will not accept excessive U.S. demands and is prepared to strongly respond to U.S. strikes in the Middle East and beyond. For the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it must meet Tehran's conditions before nuclear negotiations can begin. (Jinshi)

10 minutes ago

Tom Lee remains bullish on the US stock market’s performance by year-end, as fading uncertainty is likely to prompt sidelined funds to enter the market.

Tom Lee, chairman of Ethereum treasury company BitMine, said in an interview with CNBC that despite recent market pressure, he still expects U.S. stocks to end the year with strong performance. He noted that investors are simultaneously worried about wars, AI spending, debt markets, the U.S. Federal Reserve, inflation, and midterm elections, yet the market has shown resilience amid these pressures. If some uncertainty fades, sidelined funds may return to the market. When discussing the midterm elections, Tom Lee believes the market favors policy gridlock to some extent, as it avoids excessive policy changes, and the president’s veto power remains significant. Regarding concerns that a Democratic control of both chambers of Congress could impact data center construction, he disagrees: Democratic lawmakers will support AI after the election, as related investments bring funds to local communities and benefit employment and the economy. On prediction markets, Tom Lee said that in 2024, there was a clear discrepancy between prediction markets and polls, which provided strong signals for investors; however, in this midterm election, the two were almost identical, both pointing to a Democratic sweep, so he thinks the incremental signals from prediction markets are weaker than in 2024.

10 minutes ago

WTI and Brent crude oil climb, with Brent crude's intraday gain expanding to 2%

According to Bitget market data, both WTI and Brent crude oil are on the rise. Brent crude’s intraday gain has expanded to 2%, currently trading at $105.66 per barrel. WTI crude oil has touched $97 per barrel, with an intraday increase of 1.70%.

10 minutes ago

Popular tokens

BitcoinEthereumHyperliquidSolanaTRONBNBTetherAaveXRPPepeFartcoinOndoJupiterUniswapBonkPendleEthenaArbitrumAvalancheLidoChainlinkPolygonDogecoinCardano