LUCKNOW (CoinChapter.com) — Rumors are swirling that the oil-rich Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia and Qatar may soon make a massive purchase of Bitcoin totaling around 1 million BTC, according to cryptocurrency analyst Justin Verrengia. If true, this government acquisition would be larger than the holdings of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
For reference, 1.1 million BTC is held in Satoshi Nakamoto’s long-dormant wallet. So, an acquisition of this size would shake up the cryptocurrency markets.
Gulf Nations to Outshine Wall Street in Bitcoin Buy
The speculation originated from Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser. He tweeted that the purchase of 1M BTC by Saudi and Qatari investors could dwarf prior big buys from Wall Street institutions like BlackRock and MicroStrategy.
The speculation stems partly from recent positive developments for Bitcoin adoption in the Gulf region. A prominent Saudi cleric recently declared that investing in Bitcoin is acceptable under Islamic law. Around the same time, Verrengia pointed to a report that said that Saudi Aramco had partnered with SBI Holdings to move into digital assets, likely including Bitcoin.
Qatari Government Eyes $500B Allocation to Bitcoin
There was also a report that the Qatari government is looking to allocate $500 billion of its funds to Bitcoin.
The oil-rich nations seem to be looking to diversify their wealth by acquiring scarce digital assets like Bitcoin. These purported mega-buys from Saudi Arabia and Qatar appear to validate the recent Wall Street embrace of bitcoin, which was capped by the long-awaited US listing of a bitcoin spot ETF this January after years of stonewalling by US regulators.
The Bitcoin ETF debut essentially crowned BTC as a legitimate investment.
This mirrors the recent trend of increased institutional adoption, catalyzed by the long-awaited launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF in the US on January 11th. The ETF has helped legitimize Bitcoin as a mature, investable asset class.
However, despite the excitement over growing institutional investment, Bitcoin’s price action has been lackluster in recent weeks. After briefly hitting $48K following the ETF debut, Bitcoin prices have dropped to around $40,000. So, it remains to be seen if the rumored massive buys from Saudi Arabia and Qatar will kickstart the next Bitcoin bull run.
At this time, Bitcoin is trading at around $39,000 with a circulating supply of over 19.6 million BTC.
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