Qatar Bitcoin Investment May Exceed $500 Billion

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund might follow in El Salvador’s footsteps, becoming a country governmentally invested in Bitcoin. Prominent Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser stirred the pot with a tweet, suggesting that the fund is considering buying $500 billion worth of BTC. This revelation has sent ripples through social media, with influencers and news outlets amplifying the buzz.

Qatar’s $500B Bitcoin Investment is NOT Confirmed, Though

However, it’s crucial to note that these claims remain in the realm of speculation. Despite the growing chatter, there’s no concrete confirmation of Qatar’s plans to dive into the Bitcoin market.

Keiser also shared photos of Qatar and El Salvador officials shaking hands. He also suggested that Qatar could follow the latter in its advanced Bitcoin investments. In detail, as of Dec 5, El Salvador officially owns over 2,800 BTC, which amounts to over $130 million. The country also established Bitcoin as a legal tender in June 2021, accumulating BTC ever since.

Notably, after the latest price surge El Salvador broke even on its investment and saw a $3.6 million profit.

This lack of verified information from reputable sources leaves the situation somewhat ambiguous. Nonetheless, the mere speculation of such a significant move by a major sovereign wealth fund is influencing Bitcoin’s market dynamics, pointing to the cryptocurrency’s sensitive reaction to potential large-scale investments​​​​.

Meanwhile, Qatar is new to crypto and does not have a regulatory framework as of Q4 2024. Here are more details:

Qatar Crypto Regulation Unfolding

As of 2023, Qatar has been actively working on establishing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, particularly focusing on the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC). This framework aims to regulate investment tokens that represent underlying assets defined as specified products under the existing financial services regulations​​.

It is noteworthy that this framework does not currently include stablecoins, CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies), and other types of cryptocurrencies. The full regulation is expected to be rolled out in 2024​​.

Additionally, while Qatar’s Bitcoin investment remains unconfirmed, the country is working on introducing comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation in the near future, which will likely lift the existing ban on cryptocurrencies. This is seen as a significant step towards integrating digital assets into Qatar’s financial market, potentially boosting investor confidence​​.