US May Acquire Enormous Bitcoin Holdings if Rumors About Venezuela's $60 Billion Reserve Are Confirmed

By Omkar Godbole (all times ET unless otherwise specified) Crypto is starting 2026 on a positive note: Bitcoin is trading near $92,700, up 1.3% over 24 hours and 5% in the first five days of the year. Major altcoins such as XRP, SOL, BNB, and ETH have seen increases of 1%-3% over the past 24 hours, with XRP rising 2.49%, SOL up 1.27%, BNB up 0.54%, and ETH up 0.99%. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) has risen 1.25%, reflecting the strength of the largest and most active assets, while the CoinDesk 80 Index (CD80) has given up early gains, indicating relative weakness in the broader altcoin market. Analysts attribute the rise in bitcoin's price to safe-haven demand following US action in Venezuela and the exhaustion of tax-related selling. Deribit data shows renewed demand from traders for bullish option bets, mainly the $100,000 strike call. "We've noticed ETF inflows on January 2nd, following consecutive outflows in December, and 3000x lots of Jan-end BTC calls were executed on the last day of December," Laser Digital said in an email to CoinDesk. Over the weekend, the US attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro, sparking speculation on crypto social media that Venezuela might be controlling a massive $60 billion shadow bitcoin reserve, potentially as large as that of bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR), which holds BTC worth over $62 billion. However, these claims remain unverified. If true, the US could seize these coins and add them to its strategic bitcoin reserve. "The possibility of the US adding any seized BTC to its strategic reserve reduces the likelihood of forced selling and highlights BTC's growing strategic importance as nations compete to accumulate," QCP Capital stated in a market note on Monday. Another trending narrative is that President Donald Trump may soon tap into Venezuela's 300 billion barrels of oil reserves, which could boost supply and lead to a crash in oil prices, allowing the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates more quickly. However, having reserves and actually producing them are two different things. Several analysts noted that Venezuelan crude from the Orinoco Belt is heavy, impure sour crude, making it difficult and expensive to extract and refine, requiring significant investments. This means the reserves may not be tapped into anytime soon, limiting their impact on oil prices. In other words, the anticipated disinflationary impulse by BTC bulls may not materialize in the near future. In other key news, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the network has effectively solved the blockchain scalability trilemma, achieving a balance between decentralization, security, and high transaction speed, thanks to key upgrades like zkEVMs and PeerDAS. In traditional markets, the dollar index rose for the fourth consecutive trading day, surpassing 98.50. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 traded higher. In the macroeconomy, we have a series of key US data releases this week, starting with the ISM Manufacturing PMI later today, followed by the non-manufacturing PMI, the ADP Employment report, and nonfarm payrolls data in the days ahead. Stay alert! Read more: For analysis of today's activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today What to Watch Token Events Conferences Market Movements Bitcoin Stats Technical Analysis Crypto Equities Crypto Treasury Companies ETF Flows Spot BTC ETFs Spot ETH ETFs Source: Farside Investors While You Were Sleeping