According to recent data from Arkham Intelligence, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) formally owns about 6,300 Bitcoin (BTC), which is worth $700 million. The UAE’s Bitcoin holdings are much smaller than the long-running reports of 420,000, according to the firm that was the first to publicly identify the country’s wallets.
Unlike other nation-states like the U.S. and the U.K., whose Bitcoin reserves generally derive from criminal seizures, the UAE’s holdings are predominantly the result of local mining operations, according to Arkham’s X article.
BREAKING: THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IS NOW ON ARKHAM
The UAE’s $700M BTC holdings are now labeled on Arkham. These holdings come from Bitcoin mining operations carried out by Citadel, a public mining company majority owned by UAE Royal Group through IHC.
Arkham is the first to… pic.twitter.com/eIGut5pJXN— Arkham (@arkham) August 25, 2025
Citadel Mining, a publicly traded mining firm that is mostly owned by the International Holding Company (IHC) of the United Arab Emirates, which has ties to the Abu Dhabi royal family through Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s UAE Royal Group, is responsible for mining the Bitcoin.
Operations in mining supported by the royal group
Phoenix Group, another publicly traded mining business in the United Arab Emirates, was also highlighted by Arkham. In 2022, Phoenix and Citadel worked with IHC to build an 80,000 square meter mining plant in Abu Dhabi that was finished in six months.
Arkham claimed that by using satellite imagery of the facility’s construction to confirm on-chain activity, its results gained more credibility. Their investigation shows that since operations started, Citadel has mined 9,300 BTC in total.
“In contrast to other nations, the United Arab Emirates’ approach to Bitcoin is based on large-scale mining instead than confiscating assets,” Arkham said.
The UAE’s position in relation to other countries
Despite the excitement, the UAE is only sixth in the world among nation-states that own Bitcoin. It is ahead of El Salvador, which has 6,246 BTC, but behind Bhutan, which has 11,286 BTC.
Nation-state Bitcoin holdings: With 6,300 BTC, the UAE is sixth in the world, behind Bhutan but ahead of El Salvador. The two biggest sovereign holders, the United States and China, are still well ahead.
The United States tops the list with 198,012 BTC, mostly via criminal seizures. China comes in second with 194,000 BTC, and the UK comes in third with 61,245 BTC. Approximately 517,000 BTC, or 2.4% of the entire supply, valued at over $56 billion, are under the collective ownership of sovereign entities worldwide.
The UAE’s mining-backed strategy highlights its intention to establish a place in the Bitcoin ecosystem without depending on enforcement measures, even though its holdings do not amount to speculation.