Research Flags Bitcoin Nation-State FOMO—27 In, 13 About To Join
A brand new Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) report argues that nation-state engagement with Bitcoin has moved past legal-tender experiments right into a broader set of “publicity” pathways—from strategic reserves and sovereign mining to pensions, sovereign wealth funds and tax acceptance—marking what the authors describe as a game-theoretic race amongst governments.
Nation-State Bitcoin Adoption Accelerates
The research, authored by Jake Langenkamp and Renee Sorchik and on September 22, 2025, concludes that “27 nations presently have some measure of publicity to bitcoin—roughly one in seven worldwide,” with an extra “13 nations [that] have proposed adoption measures via laws or coverage initiatives.”
The report is specific about scope and definitions. “Exposure was outlined as any official path a authorities might take to personal, earn, or usually profit from bitcoin,” a framework that intentionally appears past the slim query of authorized tender to seize the variety of sovereign approaches now evident throughout areas and political techniques.
The authors deal with sub-national pilots—reminiscent of state-level reserves or municipal tax packages—as legitimate cases of nation-state publicity as a result of they’ll scale into nationwide coverage. Data assortment closed on June 6, 2025, with first-half 2025 occasions aggregated as a single interval to mirror the late-quarter cadence of bulletins.
The topline counts underpin a bigger narrative of acceleration. As of end-May 2025, the dataset covers “32 nations—roughly one out of each six nations on Earth—[that] both already had bitcoin publicity or was actively pursuing it via laws or coverage,” subdivided into 27 lively and 13 proposed. The authors warning that classes can overlap, with particular person nations showing in a number of modalities; the United Arab Emirates, for instance, is famous as combining government-backed mining, sovereign wealth fund ETF purchases, and tax acceptance.
Modalities cluster round just a few dominant channels. Counting each lively and proposed, the commonest is a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), recognized in 16 nations, adopted by government-backed mining (14).
Passive holdings—usually seized belongings that authorities have elected to not promote—are recorded in seven nations, whereas 5 nations settle for sure taxes in bitcoin. (*13*) cash managers seem on either side of the stability sheet: 4 pension techniques and three sovereign wealth funds present direct or oblique publicity, together with by way of fairness in BTC-treasury corporations.
Two nations are recorded for prior legal-tender standing (El Salvador and the Central African Republic), and a handful of country-specific outliers embody a government-backed crypto trade pilot (Russia), a particular financial zone recognizing bitcoin as a unit of account (Honduras), and using seized BTC for public debt (North Korea).
Different Options For Bitcoin Exposure
The authors disaggregate what’s lively at the moment versus what stays on the drafting board. Among lively exposures, they determine 11 nations with government-backed mining, seven with passive holdings, 4 with SBRs, 4 taking tax funds in bitcoin, and sovereign wealth funds or pensions in a smaller however notable function. Proposed measures skew much more closely towards SBRs: “12 of the 13 nations” with proposals goal a reserve mannequin, alongside restricted proposals for mining, pensions and tax acceptance.
A brief checklist illustrates the reserve spectrum the report captures. “Four nations had been labeled as having lively strategic bitcoin reserves.” In the United States and El Salvador, reserves are “extra conventional,” with direct holding and/or accumulation. By distinction, the central banks of Switzerland and Saudi Arabia are labeled as having oblique reserves via “giant positions in MSTR,” reflecting the authors’ broader definition of oblique publicity by way of fairness in bitcoin-treasury corporations.
The research situates El Salvador as an early legal-tender mover that subsequently emphasised balance-sheet accumulation. It recounts that El Salvador “has amassed roughly 6,100 BTC,” and notes coverage changes round service provider acceptance, underscoring the authors’ level that authorized tender is just one, and never essentially probably the most sturdy, channel for nationwide adoption. “As these examples present, authorized tender standing shouldn’t be the one route for nation state adoption. Sovereign custody, institutional buying, and strategic program design might show extra sturdy paths.”
The United States anchors a separate thread within the dataset. The authors describe US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order that “differentiated bitcoin from different cryptocurrencies and set a coverage of retaining, somewhat than promoting, bitcoin holdings,” framing an SBR structure and, per the report’s govt abstract, catalyzing copy-cat proposals overseas. They add that “sixteen nations have now proposed or enacted laws for SBRs in an analogous context to the US,” and that a number of North American municipalities and worldwide cities have moved to just accept taxes in BTC.
Passive holdings, whereas not proactive coverage, are handled as policy-relevant as a result of non-liquidation indicators an evolving treasury stance. The report lists Bulgaria, China, Finland, Georgia, India, the United Kingdom and Venezuela as nations with seized BTC presumed to stay on authorities books. “While accumulation via seizure shouldn’t be a proactive technique, the noteworthy side of passive holdings is that they’ve but offered the bitcoin,” the authors write.
The taxonomy is complemented by a methodological observe on inclusions and exclusions. Rumors and campaign-only guarantees are filtered out, and the research introduces a direct versus oblique publicity lens: direct holdings, ETFs or mining on one facet; on the opposite, exposures “reminiscent of fairness positions in bitcoin-treasury corporations like MicroStrategy (MSTR).” This framework permits Switzerland and Saudi Arabia to look as reserve holders regardless of the route being portfolio fairness somewhat than on-chain cash.
The report’s conclusion elevates the macro implications. Bitcoin, it argues, is “a brand new macroeconomic asset, the primary of its variety in additional than a century.” Early adopters might reap portfolio and financing benefits: the authors focus on “Bit-Bonds,” wherein BTC features as partial collateral to draw institutional demand and probably decrease sovereign borrowing prices, and posit that bitcoin-based settlement bridges may scale back cross-border frictions. The underlying thesis is that momentum in 2024–2025—captured within the research’s timeline and counts—makes a wholesale reversal inconceivable as extra jurisdictions institutionalize bitcoin in public-finance workflows.
At press time, BTC traded at $112,490.
