Fidelity is calling it: governments and nation-states are about to get serious about Bitcoin. In a new report , the investment giant predicts a new chapter in Bitcoin’s journey—one where central banks and treasuries step up as big investors. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETFs) made their debut in 2024, and they’ve been nothing short of a game-changer. By making Bitcoin accessible to both institutions and retail investors, these regulated financial tools have opened the floodgates. Pension funds and endowments were among the first to take the plunge. Now, Fidelity says, the next logical step is nation-states. Governments already holding Bitcoin The shift isn’t coming out of nowhere though. ‘Crypto president’ Donald Trump is about to take back the White House. And some governments already have Bitcoin on their books, though not always intentionally. America holds 198,109 BTC worth $20.1 billion. China isn’t far behind with 190,000 BTC, valued at $19.2 billion. The United Kingdom has 61,245 BTC, Ukraine 46,351 BTC, Bhutan 11,688 BTC, and El Salvador 5,961 BTC. Most of this Bitcoin wasn’t bought; it was seized. Governments often confiscate Bitcoin in criminal investigations, and regulations require auctioning it off rather than keeping it. So, while these countries technically hold Bitcoin, they haven’t made the conscious decision to use it as a treasury asset. Fidelity believes 2025 could be the year this changes. Here’s where it gets interesting: governments won’t shout from the rooftops about their Bitcoin buying. According to Fidelity, any country seriously planning to stack sats will do it quietly. Why? Because announcing their intentions would spike demand, driving up Bitcoin’s price and making accumulation even harder. This is geopolitics meets crypto game theory. How hilarious is that? The U.S., of course, would lead the charge. Trump and Senator Cynthia Lummis have both floated the idea of a national Bitcoin reserve. Lummis even introduced the Bitcoin Act in 2024, wanting to formalize the government’s Bitcoin holdings. If the bill passes, other countries will feel compelled to follow suit, as usual. Tokenization is booming Tokenization is quietly taking over Wall Street. In 2024, the value of tokenized real-world assets—think treasuries, money market funds, and commodities—hit $14 billion, doubling from the previous year. Fidelity predicts this number could reach $30 billion by the end of 2025. Tokenization is more than a buzzword; it’s becoming a practical tool. Take California, for example. The state’s Department of Motor Vehicles has digitized 42 million car titles using the Avalanche blockchain. Meanwhile, projects like Story Protocol are exploring how blockchain can transform intellectual property management. Big banks and asset managers are jumping on the tokenization train, putting bonds, credit, and funds on distributed ledgers. The benefits are clear: faster transactions, greater transparency, and reduced costs. Fidelity expects this trend to accelerate, pushing tokenized assets further into the mainstream. The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi lending markets reached $55 billion by the end of 2024, more than doubling from $22 billion the year before. Bitcoin’s status as a pristine, scarce asset makes it ideal collateral for these markets. Traditional financial institutions are taking notice. Cantor Fitzgerald, a legacy player in finance, launched a Bitcoin lending business in 2024 with $2 billion in initial funding. Their goal is to provide leverage to Bitcoin holders, bridging the gap between crypto and traditional finance. This kind of institutional involvement could make Bitcoin lending more accessible and reliable. Of course, challenges remain. Re-hypothecation—where the same asset is used as collateral for multiple loans—is a big one. Centralized lenders have struggled with trust issues, but established financial institutions might have the clout to address these concerns. Fidelity believes the market will find ways to balance innovation with security, driving further adoption. From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan
