The United Arab Emirates government apparently holds way more Bitcoin than most people realized. According to blockchain research firm Arkham, they’ve got about 6,300 Bitcoin sitting in government wallets, which is worth roughly $740 million at current prices.
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
What’s interesting is how they got all this Bitcoin. They didn’t just go out and buy it like some other countries might do. Instead, they’ve been mining it through a company called Citadel Mining, which is actually majority-owned by the UAE’s Royal Group through something called International Holding Company.
Citadel runs this huge Bitcoin mining operation on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. We’re talking about an 80,000-square-meter facility that was built back in 2022, so it’s pretty new but clearly doing well for them. They’ve managed to mine around 9,300 Bitcoin total so far, and they’re still holding onto most of it.
This puts the UAE in fourth place globally for sovereign Bitcoin holdings, which is pretty impressive when you think about it. They’re up there with countries like the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of how much crypto their government actually owns.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who’s part of the Abu Dhabi royal family, controls the Royal Group that owns 61% of the holding company behind all this.
Conclusion
The UAE shows how governments can build Bitcoin reserves through mining instead of buying. Their massive facility proves crypto mining can be a smart government strategy.
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