Bitcoin’s Corporate Surge Sparks ‘Fort Knox’ Nationalization Fears
Analyst warns rising institutional Bitcoin holdings could face U.S. seizure, echoing gold’s fate in 1971
Corporate Bitcoin holdings have soared beyond $100 billion, prompting concerns that the United States could one day nationalize these assets, similar to the gold nationalization path before the collapse of the gold standard in 1971.
According to data, corporate treasuries now hold 791,662 BTC – worth roughly $95 billion as of the end of July – representing around 3.98% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. Crypto analyst Willy Woo warns that this concentration of holdings could create a new point of centralization, leaving Bitcoin vulnerable to government intervention.
“If the U.S. dollar is structurally weakening and China is stepping in, the U.S. might approach treasury companies, centralize the holdings, and digitize them – without introducing a new gold standard,” Woo said at Baltic Honeybadger 2025. “Then they could pull the rug, just like in 1971. History could repeat itself.”
In 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the Bretton Woods agreement, suspending the dollar’s convertibility into gold and abandoning the fixed $35-per-ounce rate, effectively dismantling the gold standard.
Woo emphasized that while institutional adoption is essential for Bitcoin to surpass gold and the U.S. dollar as a monetary standard, it carries inherent risks. “That’s not going to happen until major capital gatekeepers embrace Bitcoin and start allocating in size,” he noted.
Concerns about potential nationalization are shared by Preston Pysh, co-founder of the Investors Podcast Network and Bitcoin venture fund Ego Death Capital. He warned that Bitcoin whales could be early targets, especially those relying on institutional custodians. “They’re going to take the Bitcoin because the custodian won’t want to go to jail. Private entities with significant holdings will be the first in line,” Pysh said.
Trillion-Dollar Opportunity Despite the Risks
Despite these warnings, Woo believes Bitcoin’s corporate adoption could unlock a market worth up to $100 trillion over the coming decades.
Currently valued at around $2 trillion just 16 years after its creation, Woo projects a potential 100x growth. His outlook echoes Blockstream CEO Adam Back’s forecast of a $200 trillion long-term market opportunity.
“A sustainable and scalable $100-$200 trillion trade, front-running hyperbitcoinization, could be big enough for most major corporations to transition to Bitcoin treasuries,” Back stated earlier this year.
Hyperbitcoinization refers to a potential future where Bitcoin overtakes fiat currencies globally, driven by its fixed supply and resistance to inflationary monetary policies.
