- UAE holds 6,300 Bitcoin worth $700M, mined through Citadel Mining, not seized like in the US or UK.
- Citadel Mining has produced 9,300 Bitcoin since 2022, with Abu Dhabi’s royal family-linked IHC controlling operations.
- UAE is now the sixth-largest Bitcoin-holding nation, ranking between Bhutan and El Salvador in global sovereign reserves.
The United Arab Emirates has emerged as one of the largest sovereign Bitcoin holders, with $700 million in assets tied directly to mining.
According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, the country’s government wallets contain about 6,300 Bitcoin.
These reserves did not come from police seizures, unlike the United States or the United Kingdom. Instead, the UAE accumulated them through Citadel Mining, a company majority-owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC).
Arkham announced its findings in a post on X, adding that “the UAE’s holdings do not come from police asset seizures but from mining operations with Citadel Mining.” This confirmation counters long-standing rumors that the Emirates secretly controlled more than 420,000 Bitcoin, valued at $46 billion.
Mining Operations in Abu Dhabi
Citadel Mining, launched in 2022 in partnership with Phoenix Group, built a large mining facility in Abu Dhabi. Arkham said it verified mining activity by matching blockchain transactions with satellite imagery of construction progress. The company also tracked on-chain flows between Phoenix and Citadel that aligned with official disclosures.
Arkham estimates that Citadel has mined 9,300 Bitcoin in total. Of this, around 6,300 remain in sovereign-controlled wallets. Citadel is 85% owned by 2pointzero, itself owned by IHC, which is controlled by Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a senior royal and national security advisor, holds a 61% stake in IHC.
Global Rankings and Comparisons
With its newly revealed stash, the UAE ranks as the sixth-largest nation-state Bitcoin holder. It sits just behind Bhutan with 11,286 Bitcoin and slightly ahead of El Salvador with 6,246 Bitcoin. The United States remains the largest with 198,012 Bitcoin, mostly from criminal seizures. China follows closely with 194,000 Bitcoin, largely seized during the PlusToken crackdown.
Globally, sovereign vaults now control about 517,000 Bitcoin worth more than $56 billion, around 2.4% of supply. However, Satoshi Nakamoto is still believed to hold the largest stash at 1.096 million Bitcoin. On the corporate side, MicroStrategy leads with 629,376 Bitcoin, or 2.9% of supply.
The UAE’s mining-driven Bitcoin strategy highlights a unique path to sovereign reserves. However, it also adds new weight to nation-state competition in digital assets.
