3 Billion USD in Bitcoins was a lot back in 2017. How much is that worth now? I hope they didn't sell all their coins. Imagine selling them all when the price was at 60,000 USD. If Bulgaria makes so much money from Bitcoins, will that mean they are getting less money from the EU in the future? If companies are making money with cryptos, it should be okay for countries to do the same.
They will probably sell it and a lot of people in their cabinet will probably consider selling it since that amount can help them a lot plus it would be disastrous for the market if they were to sell now but I will welcome it with open arms because that means that there's a big opportunity to buy bitcoin at low price. 
Topic: Bulgaria Government Shocked To Discover It Owns $3 Billion In Bitcoin (Read 1061 times)
June 18, 2021, 10:32:16 PM
June 20, 2021, 08:58:07 AM
I think government from single country won't be able to shut down the bitcoin throughout the globe. All they could do is shut the operations within their country itself. Bulgarian Govt. is stupid if they really seize the bitcoins and do nothing about it. They can literally put that money into their own banks and have contribution in the country.
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They are doing the right thing by holding on to those coins. Now the stash has grown to $8 billion. On the other hand, the FBI seized a similar amount of coins from Silk Road and its owner Ross Ulbricht. But they received only around $600 million after they auctioned off all those coins in 2015. The Mt Gox bankruptcy trustee also made a similar mistake with the recovered coins. He sold most of the coins in 2018 and 2019 when the prices were really low. Only the Bulgarian authorities did the right thing on such occasions.
June 19, 2021, 12:03:03 AM
I think government from single country won't be able to shut down the bitcoin throughout the globe. All they could do is shut the operations within their country itself. Bulgarian Govt. is stupid if they really seize the bitcoins and do nothing about it. They can literally put that money into their own banks and have contribution in the country. Well surely that's a money laundering but they should understand that holding that much bitcoin in the cold wallet will help the bitcoin community to move faster since it's locked up supply and inaccessible to the public or rest of the investors.
So 3 billion less is 3 billion purging for the BTC community. Idk, demand and supply guys, that's helpful. We should take a movement to thank Bulgarian government for holding these coins and not selling them. Hope you understand where I am going with this.
So 3 billion less is 3 billion purging for the BTC community. Idk, demand and supply guys, that's helpful. We should take a movement to thank Bulgarian government for holding these coins and not selling them. Hope you understand where I am going with this.
June 18, 2021, 10:25:48 PM
I hope the Bulgarian government will not put Bitcoins up for auction but keep holding until Bitcoin reaches a higher value.
If Bitcoin becomes a global currency the value of Bitcoin could reach $1 million and countries could have a plan to reserve Bitcoin like gold and dollars.
If Bitcoin becomes a global currency the value of Bitcoin could reach $1 million and countries could have a plan to reserve Bitcoin like gold and dollars.
It has been already explained in detail in one of the previous posts. They were holding Bitcoin not for higher returns in the future, but because they couldn't do it until the legal process is over. In countries such as Bulgaria and lawsuits and appeals take a decade or more to get settled. So as per the existing laws, the government can't sell these coins unless the court gives them permission to do so. And I hope that the permission gets delayed by another 10 years or so. The sudden influx of all these coins in the market can cause the exchange rates to go down.
June 17, 2021, 09:01:55 AM
Does anyone have more information what happened with this 213,519 Bitcoins and can someone identify exact addresses and transactions related with this?
According to information received from the Bulgarian Minister of Finance from 2018, all BTC that was seized was sold by the beginning of April 2018. If we take this as relevant information, any further discussion is superfluous - unless we go into conspiracy theories and assume that the Bulgarian authorities kept everything to themselves - which would not be strange given the level of corruption then certainly even higher than today.
The publication claims that Bulgaria’s finance minister, Vladislav Goranov, told the Prime Minister’s Security Council the sale had taken place, and that the coins were sold piecemeal so as not to crash the market.
“Several sovereign wealth funds and Asian investors” purchased the coins for around €15,000 each, with Deloitte acting as a consultant, Bivol references Goranov as revealing.
Even more curiously, “experts from the US FBI helped to ensure the safety of transactions,” the last of which occurred April 1, 2018, Goranov is reported to have said.
“Several sovereign wealth funds and Asian investors” purchased the coins for around €15,000 each, with Deloitte acting as a consultant, Bivol references Goranov as revealing.
Even more curiously, “experts from the US FBI helped to ensure the safety of transactions,” the last of which occurred April 1, 2018, Goranov is reported to have said.
June 17, 2021, 05:29:03 AM
Wait !!! is this the reason why Bitcoin was added to the stock market of Bulgaria? because of how much Bitcoin they owned..
sorry but is it best if someone will enlighten this matter..thanks.
sorry but is it best if someone will enlighten this matter..thanks.
June 17, 2021, 04:52:16 AM
should just hold it maybe for another decades who know if the next headline in 10 years gonna be "bulgaria government shocked to discover it owns $30 billion in Bitcoin" lol.
But how they could be oblivious to $500 million in their posession though, it's not some measly amount and other government i'm sure already gonna dump these coins to oblivion.
pretty sure the government isn't actually shocked but just informing media that this kind of things happen and then the media overblow this news. After all, this make a good news headline.
But how they could be oblivious to $500 million in their posession though, it's not some measly amount and other government i'm sure already gonna dump these coins to oblivion.
pretty sure the government isn't actually shocked but just informing media that this kind of things happen and then the media overblow this news. After all, this make a good news headline.
June 16, 2021, 02:45:08 PM
Had some countries been wise, they would have been able to make money by investing in bitcoins by now, they could have established mining factories where they would have mined it and thus have gotten money for some developments in the country.
You mean like Bulgaria?! Think about this... the population of Bulgaria is only ~7 million. Therefore the government made enough money for $420 per person. And lots of people are wealthy and don't need that, so they could give $1,000 to the poorest 35% imagine how much better their country will be!
If they held the Bitcoins their country could become the richest one in the world.
USA is a HUUUUGE nation for example, it has millions of unemployed people and tens of millions of underpaid people, just build renewable energy business as government and eventually they will be once again economical giant of the world and be way way way bigger than china again.
June 16, 2021, 09:58:29 AM
I am right now laughing my ass off because how the hell did the government are oblivious of their own wealth, far as I know, the government wants their hands on everything and they want to monitor everything so yeah this one is kinda ironic if you think about it. But that's a good thing that they have bitcoin because it grows in time and they can use it as additional funds.
June 16, 2021, 09:47:03 AM
Yeah right, and how is better to be debt-free and living in poverty than 100% in debs and with the country being in the most envied in the world!
Ask any Bulgarian citizen what would they prefer, debt-free and the poorest in the EU or 3 times the current debt and the living standards in Slovenia?
Oh wait, looking at how many Bulgarian have fled the country to debt impoverished countries I think we have the answer already!
Ask any Bulgarian citizen what would they prefer, debt-free and the poorest in the EU or 3 times the current debt and the living standards in Slovenia?
Oh wait, looking at how many Bulgarian have fled the country to debt impoverished countries I think we have the answer already!
I get your point, but the money can't be stolen if it is used for repayment of debt. If it is used for any other purpose, at least a part of it would be stolen. I don't know much about the political situation in Bulgaria, but I have heard that there is a lot of corruption in the Balkan nations. IMO, the best thing to do for the Bulgarian government would be to hold these coins for the long term, with a target of $250,000 per coin, or $500,000 per coin. They can simply add this stash to their forex reserves (if they haven't done that already).
June 16, 2021, 08:23:56 AM
Discovered? What the hell? First of all I think it is quite a shock that they only have like 10-15 billion dollars in debt, that is a very very small amount
Bulgaria has quite the low debt to GDP percentage of around 20% compared to the average European country but they're also the poorest of all those countries, their GDP for example is the same as Rhode Island. And even despite this, those 200k BTC who are now worth around 8 billion, not 3 as in 2017 when the topic started will barely give the average Bulgarian 100 euros, that's 3 minimum government wage, far from what some people have described as getting the whole country back on track.
Secondly the fact that they just seized crypto and now suddenly richer as a whole nation is a great deal for them, but they probably knew what they were doing before they did it, they probably didn't "discover" it but took this seriously enough because they knew that they were getting a ton of money from this seizure.
Not really, the police action was international cooperation against trafficking, and knowing how corruption works in the area I'm willing to bet that they acted only because of the pressure put on them by other countries and the EU, fighting money laundering and trafficking is not really something Bulgarian authorities are interested in, more like the opposite.
However being a country without debt is truly amazing.
Yeah right, and how is better to be debt-free and living in poverty than 100% in debs and with the country being in the most envied in the world!
Ask any Bulgarian citizen what would they prefer, debt-free and the poorest in the EU or 3 times the current debt and the living standards in Slovenia?
Oh wait, looking at how many Bulgarian have fled the country to debt impoverished countries I think we have the answer already!
June 15, 2021, 11:43:01 PM
I think it's now bulgarian citizens and their representatives' duty to ask the government formally about these bitcoins. That is a huge amount of money which can be very helpful for the country. It must be watched closely and the fate of this money decided wisely. Bulgaria is really smart to have been holding these coins, that creates a big differential between them and other countries regards crypto adoption.
Actually the Bulgarian government hasn't done anything unusual. Similar to the other Eastern European nations, the legal system in Bulgaria is compounded by bureaucracy and red tape. The coins were held, because they could be sold only after the court rules that the proceeds are from criminal activity. The slowness of the legal system actually helped the Bulgarian government in this case. In any other country, the coins could have been auctioned in 2017 itself. In the US, they took just a few months to completely dump the Silk Road coins.
June 15, 2021, 06:59:33 PM
Does anyone have more information what happened with this 213,519 Bitcoins and can someone identify exact addresses and transactions related with this?
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
That's really a big value holding. During the peak price of bitcoin this value could've got increased even higher. Maybe with the Bitcoin holding it can turn itself a debt free country in the coming months/years. The country is termed to be the poorest among the entire European Union though it has got small population. However being a country without debt is truly amazing. In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
June 15, 2021, 04:06:51 PM
Does anyone have more information what happened with this 213,519 Bitcoins and can someone identify exact addresses and transactions related with this?
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
I have seen posts claiming that Bulgaria is still holding those coins. But it needs to be confirmed. Unlike what happened when the FBI seized the coins from Ross Ulbricht (they auctioned it after a few months in 2015, for around $300 per coin), I haven't seen any news about the Bulgarian government auctioning these coins. So I would assume that they still have them. But I am surprised that there is hardly any media coverage on this. This is huge news! Because Bulgaria has essentially wiped out its national debt with the help of Bitcoins! If this news is publicized, then it will encourage other countries to hold Bitcoins in their forex reserves (albeit in small quantities).
June 15, 2021, 03:17:04 PM
Discovered? What the hell? First of all I think it is quite a shock that they only have like 10-15 billion dollars in debt, that is a very very small amount and if 3 billion dollar covers nearly 20% of your debt then you are doing something awesome, or they are such a small nation that they didn't even make that much of a debt, I do not know which is the case but I can say that they have a very tiny amount in debt that could be paid very easily, like even one big company selling stuff internationally can cover it and then some all by itself, that is a huge deal.
Secondly the fact that they just seized crypto and now suddenly richer as a whole nation is a great deal for them, but they probably knew what they were doing before they did it, they probably didn't "discover" it but took this seriously enough because they knew that they were getting a ton of money from this seizure.
Secondly the fact that they just seized crypto and now suddenly richer as a whole nation is a great deal for them, but they probably knew what they were doing before they did it, they probably didn't "discover" it but took this seriously enough because they knew that they were getting a ton of money from this seizure.
June 15, 2021, 06:20:12 AM
Does anyone have more information what happened with this 213,519 Bitcoins and can someone identify exact addresses and transactions related with this?
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
I have seen posts claiming that Bulgaria is still holding those coins. But it needs to be confirmed. Unlike what happened when the FBI seized the coins from Ross Ulbricht (they auctioned it after a few months in 2015, for around $300 per coin), I haven't seen any news about the Bulgarian government auctioning these coins. So I would assume that they still have them. But I am surprised that there is hardly any media coverage on this. This is huge news! Because Bulgaria has essentially wiped out its national debt with the help of Bitcoins! If this news is publicized, then it will encourage other countries to hold Bitcoins in their forex reserves (albeit in small quantities).
June 15, 2021, 05:00:30 AM
Does anyone have more information what happened with this 213,519 Bitcoins and can someone identify exact addresses and transactions related with this?
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
In time when Bitcoin was seized from Bulgarian police it was worth around $500 million, and today that is worth more than $8,5 billion, that is more than a half of all national debt of Bulgaria ($15,5 billion according to worlddebtclocks.com)
December 29, 2017, 04:54:28 PM
Now since they've found out a lucky fortune, I hope they're smart enough to retain it for a few more years and not sell it. This could slowly help them settle their nation's debt and could probably be used to help the poor. I would be a happy Bulgarian if a certain percentage of those Bitcoin holdings were given away as an airdrop to the general public. A holding of that proportion could probably bring down the price of Bitcoin by a small percentage for a few days if it were to be sold to a large buyer(s).
Now apart from this, there's also news that the United Bulgarian Bank and the First Investment Bank (Fibank) have closed accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges a day or two ago. Could this mean that, they're not welcoming exchanges and the public from trading crypto? If this is the case, then I wonder if people would even be given a part of the lucky fortune.
They do not have a responsibility to give that money away, people are just going to spend that money in useless stuff, if anything the Bulgarian government should just keep holding that amount of bitcoin similar to what happens to gold, they could spend it but again that will be a mistake since the price of bitcoin still is very low compared to what it can potentially reach. Now apart from this, there's also news that the United Bulgarian Bank and the First Investment Bank (Fibank) have closed accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges a day or two ago. Could this mean that, they're not welcoming exchanges and the public from trading crypto? If this is the case, then I wonder if people would even be given a part of the lucky fortune.
December 20, 2017, 05:41:05 AM
That price of BTC can influence the market to crash or rise, even though it is not easy to convert all of that coins in one day or two even if you own a business to prove that you have a money, a billion amount of fiat currency is not easy to pull from the government that is why Bitcoin have been accused to be an anti-money laundering.
P.S I hope that a small fraction of that money goes to charity work.
Definitely it is not that much easy to do this. Bulgaria government is either accused of this or not but believe me no one can retrieve any money out bitcoin on so short notice. These are just rumors and try to make disturbance and insecurity amongst the users. Bitcoins are not being legalized, why it is so? This is the reason. Not to do money laundering while governments are used to of it.P.S I hope that a small fraction of that money goes to charity work.
December 17, 2017, 05:20:30 PM
I was honestly surprised that it was not been audited for a long time since May and none have send some bitcoin amount to other wallets of the corrupt law enforcement who hold this case. And with that I absolutely applaud they’re government on this instances, if I know if this happens in our country a 3billion$ worth of bitcoin would be missing and go to those pockets/wallets by the corrupted government officials. It is a positive news in my eyes.
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