Ukraine’s Civil Servants Report Owning $2.6 Billion Of Bitcoin

A Ukranian government data report indicates that public officials there have declared owning 46,351 BTC, with several whales among them.

According to Ukranian government data transparency provider Opendatabot, civil servants in the country have declared owning a total 46,351 BTC (worth some $2.6 billion at the time of this writing).

The declarations came as property disclosure requirements imposed on public officials in Ukraine. More than 700,000 such officials made property declarations by March 31, with 652 declaring that they own BTC, per Opendatabot. This would average out to 71 BTC (or about $3.9 million) per public official that declared it.

Opendatabot also reported on the other cryptocurrencies declared by public officials, including ether, litecoin and stellar.

“The largest number of owners of cryptocurrencies work in city councils, the Ministry of Defense and the National Police,” per a translated version of Opendatabot’s report.

The report highlighted that Mishalov Vyacheslav Dmitrovich, a deputy in Dnipro, has a bitcoin trove of 18,000 BTC — worth well over $1 billion at the time of this writing. Lensky Peter Sergeevich of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foregin Affairs holds 6,528 BTC. And Urbansky Alexander Igorevich of the Odessa Regional Council holds 5,328 BTC.

Though Bitcoin is not legally recognized in the country, that has apparently not dissuaded the officials from investing in the space as there are reportedly a number of bitcoin whales holding public office. This could make Ukraine a place that encourages bitcoin adoption through regulation in the near future.