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Bulgaria sold BTC too soon, and missed out on enough money to pay off its entire public debt

By LeftFooted | bitcoinea | 23 Jul 2025


Back in 2017, Bulgaria seized 213,519 Bitcoin during a crackdown on organised crime.


Just a few months later, the country sold its entire Bitcoin stack for about $3.5 billion.


Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but it was clearly a bad decision.


That amount is enough to pay off the country's debt


Today, Bulgaria has a public debt of around $24 billion according to World Economics data.


For reference, 213,519 BTC would be worth $25.2 billion today.

Ouch.

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LeftFooted
LeftFooted

I’m a left-footed duck that loves writing. I write about cars, watches, craft beer and, you’ve guessed it, crypto Also active on read.cash


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