Key Takeaways
Why is the UAE Aggressively Buying BTC?
The country considers it “digital gold,” worthy of long-term investment as a strategic asset.
What is the broader question from other countries?
There has been a steady increase in demand from governments around the world; now this cohort owns over 645,000 BTC.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has tripled its numbers Bitcoin assets in 2025.
According to a Bloomberg reportthe Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC) has scaled its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin [BTC] Confidence (IBIT) was up 230% by the end of the third quarter.
At that time (end of September), the position was valued at almost $518 million, approximately 8 million IBIT shares, compared to 2.4 million three months earlier.
ADIC’s operations are conducted independently but are a subsidiary of Mubadala, a wholly owned UAE sovereign wealth fund. Asked about the reasoning behind the aggressive BTC bid, an ADIC spokesperson told Bloomberg:
“We see Bitcoin playing an increasingly important role alongside gold; both assets contribute to the diversification of our portfolio, and we expect to hold them as part of our short- and long-term strategy.”
That stance positioned BTC as a strategic reserve for the UAE. That raised a bigger question: was the nation-state game theory around BTC now taking shape?
Czech, El Salvador and more BTC holdings
Perhaps one of the most notable new players is the Czech Republic. The country’s central bank bought the first $1 million in BTC, stablecoin and tokenized products.
Earlier in October, Luxembourg also announced that it had allocated 1% of its sovereign wealth fund to BTC and crypto assets, amounting to approximately €7 million. Other new buyers this year it includes Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, OGs like El Salvador have recently increased their acquisitions Added $100 million BTCbringing the country’s total inventory to 7,474 coins, worth $676 million.
Now governments arranged as the third largest holders of BTC, with 645,000 BTC, after publicly traded companies and ETFs.
Source: Bitcoin Treasuries
For digital asset manager Bitwise, the government’s total BTC holdings translated to just 1.5%, compared to 17% gold holdings.
To the company, this meant that BTC was still in the early stages of adoption among states, and that acceleration could also increase its value.
The fourth quarter tests conviction
Source: Bitwise
Still, the Q4 sell-off, which has resulted in a nearly 30% drop in the BTC price to $90,000, has exposed current nation-state holders to a significant paper loss.
Perhaps the fourth quarter filings, expected in early 2026, will show which countries had strong long-term conviction during this period.