Americans now hold more Bitcoin than gold according to River

Bitcoin has just crossed a symbolic threshold in the United States. According to River’s latest report, American individuals now hold more BTC than physical gold. This shift illustrates a profound evolution in heritage strategies. Crypto, long perceived as speculative, is gradually gaining ground against the historic safe haven. Driven by simplified access to financial markets and a new generation of investors, this change is reshaping the way Americans think about the preservation and transmission of their wealth.

Bitcoin: the shift of households towards the yellow metal

While Bitcoin ETFs are recording their sixth consecutive day in the green, the report published this July by the company River reveals a major sociological shift through several figures:

• 49.6 million adult Americans (18.6% of the adult population) now own bitcoin, compared to 28.8 million (10.8%) who hold gold;
• 16 years of existence were enough for the Bitcoin network to overtake physical gold, used as a store of value for around 5,000 years;
• 4 percentage points of increase were recorded in about six months, with the adoption rate of bitcoin among the US adult population increasing from 14.3% at the start of the year to 18.6%;
• 42% of the world’s bitcoin in circulation is now collectively owned by American citizens.

The study explain this rapid acceleration through the convergence of two key factors, namely access and culture. Indeed, the company points out that favorable regulations, lower barriers to entry thanks to exchange platforms and mobile applications, combined with an American cultural penchant for individual investment and financial autonomy, have accelerated this adoption. This transformation is also explained by the reorientation of Wall Street’s distribution channels. Several large American asset managers opened the distribution of Bitcoin ETFs to their clients this year, placing the crypto directly in front of financial advisors who until now had little reason to broach the subject with their individual clients.

The industrial fabric: the supremacy of the private sector and mining companies

Beyond simple ownership by individuals, the dominant position of the United States is based on a massive presence of private companies and physical infrastructures established on the national territory. Publicly traded companies based in the United States hold approximately 1.24 million BTC, representing 92.7% of all bitcoin held by public companies globally. This concentration reflects the way in which US listed companies have become dominant in corporate treasury strategies.

In terms of production and services, the domination is just as marked. The United States now concentrates 37.5% of the network’s global hashrate, establishing itself as the heart of computing power in mining. At the same time, more than 150 major companies specializing in the sector, ranging from exchange platforms to custody services, including mining companies and payment processors, have established their headquarters on American soil, forming a complete commercial ecosystem.

The state apparatus: public reserves and strategic implications

This industrial power is coupled with a first-rate institutional position occupied by the federal state itself. The US government holds a hoard of 328,372 BTC mostly from judicial seizures, worth more than $23 billion at recent prices. This public stock is the subject of extensive legislative work aimed at formally codifying the creation of a national strategic bitcoin reserve, accompanied by long-term custody obligations and an accumulation target of up to 1 million BTC.

All of these concentration factors lead the River report to characterize the United States as the true global bitcoin superpower. Furthermore, the progressive alignment of the legislative apparatus and public reserves marks the transition from purely repressive management through seizures to a proactive strategy of sovereign accumulation.

The convergent involvement of citizens, listed companies and the American legislative power foreshadows a redistribution of the global geopolitical and monetary cards. While the world’s largest economy accumulates a preponderant share of the mass in circulation and controls more than a third of its technical emission power, the other economic blocs could find themselves forced to review their regulatory framework to avoid strategic dependence. If physical gold retains its historical neutrality, the emerging hegemony of the American ecosystem over bitcoin acutely raises the question of the digital sovereignty of nations in the era of the digitalization of stores of value.