Retail Sells, Washington Holds: Bitcoin’s New Divide
The U.S. government isn’t being scared by Bitcoin’s price swings — even while many regular investors are stepping back.
Bitcoin has been struggling lately. On Feb 17, it traded around $67,996, down about 1.4% on the day and more than 28% over the past month. A big reason is that Bitcoin keeps failing to break and hold $70,000, which makes short-term traders nervous. Some people sell when they don’t see a quick breakout.
But Washington doesn’t seem worried.
Reports say the U.S. government holds about 328,372 BTC, worth roughly $22.5B, mostly from law-enforcement seizures. Instead of selling, the government is treating it more like a reserve.
Under President Donald Trump, the government has been publicly supportive of Bitcoin and has included it in a Digital Asset Stockpile concept.
The story also says big investors still look committed. Around Feb 15, Bitcoin investment funds reportedly had $15.1M in net inflows, and the total in these funds is close to $100B since they launched.
But regular investors appear to be moving the other way. One report says money has been leaving crypto investment products for four weeks in a row, which suggests weaker confidence among everyday buyers.
So the split looks like this:
Government + big investors: still holding or adding
Regular investors: pulling back and losing interest
No one knows yet if this is just a short rough patch or something longer. But one thing is clear in this narrative: the U.S. government is treating Bitcoin as a serious asset — not a small experiment.