Coinbase executive reveals 40 countries have committed to Bitcoin for national balance sheets

The number of countries quietly lining up to put Bitcoin on their national balance sheets may be larger than almost anyone realized. John D’Agostino, Head of Institutional Strategy at Coinbase, told CNBC on June 30, 2026 that over 40 countries have expressed intent to acquire Bitcoin as a sovereign reserve asset.

Right now, the list of nations with publicly confirmed Bitcoin holdings is essentially two: El Salvador, which made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, and Bhutan, which has mined Bitcoin at a state level. Forty countries would represent a fundamental shift in how governments think about the asset.

What D’Agostino actually said

D’Agostino did not name the countries. He did not provide acquisition volumes or timelines. What he offered was a characterization of sovereign intent, drawn from Coinbase’s institutional relationships.

The caveat matters. “Expressed intent” and “signed purchase order” are very different things. Some of the 40 nations may be in early feasibility discussions. Others may be further along. Without specifics, it is impossible to know how committed each country actually is, or what scale of acquisition they are considering.

The U.S. set the template

The backdrop for all of this is the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, established on March 6, 2025, under the Trump administration. The reserve was seeded with Bitcoin seized through law enforcement actions, and as of early 2026, it held approximately 328,000 BTC, making the US government one of the largest single holders of Bitcoin on the planet.

There is also an accounting dimension complicating the picture. Bitcoin is currently classified on sovereign balance sheets as a nonproduced nonfinancial asset, a category that sits somewhat awkwardly next to gold and foreign currency reserves. How central banks and finance ministries ultimately categorize and report Bitcoin holdings will shape how aggressively they pursue them, since accounting treatment affects everything from reserve adequacy ratios to IMF reporting obligations.

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