UAE triggers ‘gold replacement’ debate with $518mln Bitcoin move, now what?

Key Takeaways

Why is the UAE Aggressively Shopping for BTC?

The nation considers it “digital gold,” worthy of long-term funding as a strategic asset.

What’s the broader query from different nations?

There was a gentle improve in demand from governments around the globe; now this cohort owns over 645,000 BTC.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has tripled its numbers Bitcoin property in 2025.

In response to a Bloomberg reportthe Abu Dhabi Funding Council (ADIC) has scaled its place in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin [BTC] Confidence (IBIT) was up 230% by the top of the third quarter.

At the moment (finish of September), the place was valued at nearly $518 million, roughly 8 million IBIT shares, in comparison with 2.4 million three months earlier.

ADIC’s operations are performed independently however are a subsidiary of Mubadala, an entirely owned UAE sovereign wealth fund. Requested concerning the reasoning behind the aggressive BTC bid, an ADIC spokesperson instructed Bloomberg:

“We see Bitcoin enjoying an more and more vital position alongside gold; each property contribute to the diversification of our portfolio, and we count on to carry them as a part of our short- and long-term technique.”

That stance positioned BTC as a strategic reserve for the UAE. That raised a much bigger query: was the nation-state recreation idea round BTC now taking form?

Czech, El Salvador and extra BTC holdings

Maybe some of the notable new gamers is the Czech Republic. The nation’s central financial institution purchased the primary $1 million in BTC, stablecoin and tokenized merchandise.

Earlier in October, Luxembourg additionally introduced that it had allotted 1% of its sovereign wealth fund to BTC and crypto property, amounting to roughly €7 million. Different new consumers this 12 months it consists of Saudi Arabia.

On the similar time, OGs like El Salvador have just lately elevated their acquisitions Added $100 million BTCbringing the nation’s complete stock to 7,474 cash, value $676 million.

Now governments arranged because the third largest holders of BTC, with 645,000 BTC, after publicly traded corporations and ETFs.

Supply: Bitcoin Treasuries

For digital asset supervisor Bitwise, the federal government’s complete BTC holdings translated to simply 1.5%, in comparison with 17% gold holdings.

To the corporate, this meant that BTC was nonetheless within the early levels of adoption amongst states, and that acceleration may additionally improve its worth.

The fourth quarter checks conviction

Supply: Bitwise

Nonetheless, the This fall sell-off, which has resulted in a virtually 30% drop within the BTC worth to $90,000, has uncovered present nation-state holders to a major paper loss.

Maybe the fourth quarter filings, anticipated in early 2026, will present which nations had sturdy long-term conviction throughout this era.