The straightforward question of whether central banks are buying Bitcoin is more intricate than it seems. Certainly, the US Federal Reserve has yet to buy Bitcoin. Nor is it on the balance sheet of any G7 central bank.

Nevertheless, David Bailey of Bitcoin Magazine claimed that smaller central banks bought the currency. Others, including Michael Arrington, also think central bankers are buying.

El Salvador and Bitcoin

El Saconsideringe is top-of-mind when considering whether central bankers are using Bitcoin. Smartly, however, Bailey didn't claim that El Salvador's central bank had been buying Bitcoin. 4

Although Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele bought the currency using public funds, he's not a central banker. As Bailey knows, El Salvador's 5,782 bitcoins aren't on the balance sheet to back its US dollar-pegged fiat but rather in its more discretionary, fiscal treasury.

Iran's Central Bank and Bitcoin

Instead, Bailey cited an article claiming that Iran's central bank bought Bitcoin. This is a curious claim, not only because of Iran's tiny size—its central bank has less than 2% of the US's assets —but also because the US and other major countries have sanctioned the entire country since 1979.

Moreover, Iranian central bankers have warned that buying bitcoin is illegal in the country, except for domestically-mined bitcoin.

Protos could not verify Bailey's claim that the Iranian central bank owns Bitcoin. Iran certainly has miners operating in its country, but only a single Decrypt article claims that its central bankers have ever purchased the asset itself.

Iran has limited independent media, and its central bank doesn't list Bitcoin in public filings. Bailey also backpedaled on his claim shortly after making it in a live social audio space.

Bhutan and Other Claims

Another commentator with a dubious track record said Bhutan's central bank was buying Bitcoin and "confirmed this to me on Tuesday." Indeed, Bhutan has operated a state-owned Bitcoin mine connected to Jihan Wu of Bitdeer. However, whether Bhutanese central bankers have ever purchased Bitcoin is still being determined.

The Broader Picture

The question of whether central banks are buying Bitcoin is far more specific than whether governments possess Bitcoin. Even the US government possesses Bitcoin, with US Marshalls holding thousands of coins confiscated from the Silk Road and other criminal legal proceedings.

In the end, however, there's little evidence that any central bank—independent of other government agencies like fiscal authorities—actually owns Bitcoin itself.

Away from Bitcoin, many central banks own stablecoins and other crypto assets.

Instead of purchasing the world's leading crypto asset, several sovereigns have leap-frogged right into altcoins, using various blockchains to issue tokens like the Chinese e-CNY, Nigerian e-Naira, Zimbabwean ZiG, Jamaican JAM-DEX, or Bahamian Sand Dollar.

Because many central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are direct liabilities of the central bank, a percentage of the total supply of these digital assets is genuinely on the balance sheet of these central banks. However, these assets aren't bitcoin.

So yes, central banks certainly own crypto assets. Government agencies have bought or mined bitcoin. However, it must be clarified that any central banker has ever purchased Bitcoin to hold on their balance sheet.