US probes Venezuela crypto ties amid $60 billion Bitcoin speculations

U.S. officials are looking at assets linked to the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela, with digital properties among the areas under review, said Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets.

In a recent interview with CoinDesk, Witt said the situation is still developing and several national security teams are working. He declined to comment on any actions taken so far.

He says ‘Folks are talking, they’re looking at the whole thing that is going on with this Maduro regime; how was it funded and where some of those assets (on the oil side, real physical commodities or digital assets) may be.

His comment on anything I have been unable to comment as of this time, but there are several people in the national security apparatus who were engaged and investigating that,’ said his comments.

Earlier this year, Maduro was captured and the investigation follows that which has led to widespread speculation about possible crypto holdings related to the regime.

Project Brazen’s Newsletter Whale Hunting, a podcast about the hidden worlds of money and power that explores Maduro’ in its own right-wing government, has suggested Venezuela’d government may have secretly created dozens of Bitcoin hoards — possibly worth $60 billion.

According to the alleged stash, it has been constructed through schemes such as gold sales, oil-for–crypto transactions and the seizure of domestic mining operations; Maduro ally Alex Saab is said to be one of those people who are believed to have played an important role in accessing and managing the assets.

But publicly available data paint a very different picture of . BitcoinTreasuries The is. The state of Venezuela listed among the list of government Bitcoin holders, NET, Venezuela has just around 240 BTC (about $21 million) worth about 231 MTC.

Major blockchain analytics companies such as Nansen and Chainalysis have criticized reports of large-scale state holdings, adding that there is no on-chain evidence to support the existence of such a massive reserve.

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