China
Second on the Bitcoin ownership by country 2025 list is China, though its position is shrouded in opacity. In 2019, Chinese authorities shut down the PlusToken scam and confiscated over 190,000 BTC — one of the largest crypto seizures in history. But the fate of these funds remains largely unknown.
Some blockchain analysts suggest that parts of this holding were quietly liquidated. Others believe the coins are sitting dormant in government Bitcoin wallets, untouched in cold storage. Despite its ban on domestic trading and mining, China remains a key player in the geopolitics of Bitcoin ownership — perhaps one of the largest non-US Bitcoin reserve holders.