North Korea Accumulates Bitcoin: Binance Founder Hints at the Country's Potential Bitcoin Reserve Adoption

In a recent development, North Korea has flipped Bhutan and El Salvador in crypto holdings, becoming the fourth largest Bitcoin holder.

In a recent development, North Korea has flipped Bhutan and El Salvador in crypto holdings, becoming the fourth largest Bitcoin holder. Reflecting on the development, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) sparked speculations about the country's reserve plans.

However, according to the latest data from Arkham, North Korea, through the notorious Lazarus Group, holds a total of 13,518 BTC, which is valued at $1.13 billion at Bitcoin's current price of $83,263.

For context, the United States is the largest holder of Bitcoin with a total of 198,109 BTC or $16.47 billion. Following closely are China and the United Kingdom, boasting 195,000 BTC or 16.18 billion and 61,245 BTC or $5.1 billion, respectively.

Previously, El Salvador and Bhutan secured the fourth and fifth positions with Bitcoin holdings of 10,634 BTC or $886 million and 6,118 BTC or $509.5 million, respectively. Following the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, North Korea jumped to the fourth place, overtaking Bhutan and El Salvador.

This has sparked speculations of North Korea's potential Bitcoin reserve strategy, which is also hinted at by Changpeng Zhao.

"Different ways to build a strategic crypto reserve. 笑 (This is the only post today with no crypto prices. Triple edged sword). "

The Binance CEO's post could be a response to a post by a user who shared a news article about North Korea becoming the fourth largest Bitcoin holder.

The user added that the US is currently holding the largest Bitcoin reserve with 198,000 BTC, followed by China with 195,000 BTC, and the UK with 61,000 BTC.

Speaking about Bitcoin reserve adoption, South Korea lawmakers had proposed that the Bank of Korea (BoK) adopt Bitcoin as a reserve currency. However, the BoK rejected the idea, stating that it could lead to instability in the cryptocurrency market and increase transaction costs.

"In the case of cryptocurrency market instability, transaction costs to cash out Bitcoins could rise drastically," the BoK said.