Key Takeaways
- Arkham Intelligence has tagged nearly 87.5% of Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings.
- Saylor dismissed the idea of publishing wallet addresses, warning of hacker threats and unnecessary liabilities.
- The debate over on-chain proof-of-reserves continues to divide the crypto industry, with critics calling it either a vital transparency tool or a misleading facade.
Michael Saylor may have dismissed on-chain wallet transparency as a security risk, but that didn’t stop on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence from doing the job themselves.
Just days after the Strategy founder doubled down on his refusal to share wallet addresses, the on-chain analytics firm revealed it had already mapped out nearly 88% of the company’s Bitcoin (BTC) reserves, worth over $5.4 billion.
Arkham Maps Out Strategy’s Bitcoin Holdings
Speaking at Bitcoin 2025, Saylor doubled down on his long-standing stance, arguing that revealing wallet addresses creates a massive attack surface.
“You publish your wallet, that’s an attack vector for hackers, nation-state actors, every type of troll imaginable,” he said. “It’s okay at a small level, but it isn’t God’s gift. People give too much credence to it on X.”
Despite that warning, Arkham has now identified 70,816 BTC—worth about $5.45 billion—across wallets linked to Strategy.
That figure represents roughly 87.5% of the firm’s publicly disclosed Bitcoin holdings, including those custodied with Fidelity Digital Assets.
Arkham didn’t get this data from Strategy directly. Instead, the analytics firm used forensic tools and blockchain data to trace deposit patterns, cluster addresses, and monitor inflows from major exchanges.
This type of address attribution has become increasingly popular in recent years, offering investors and observers a third-party audit of treasuries without requiring voluntary disclosure.
While some see this as a win for transparency and market trust, others—like Saylor—argue that it compromises security and invites unnecessary risk.
The Proof-of-Reserves Debate
Calls for on-chain proof-of-reserves gained traction in late 2022 after the collapse of FTX exposed just how easily customer funds could be misused behind the scenes.
In response, several exchanges, including Binance, began publishing Merkle tree-based attestations of their holdings.
Yet critics were quick to point out flaws. Exchanges could temporarily inflate reserves to appear solvent, only to move funds immediately afterward.
Skeptics argue that these snapshots can be gamed, offering the illusion of accountability without real transparency.
Despite the controversy, Arkham’s record of wallet tagging has grown rapidly.
The firm previously identified crypto portfolios linked to former U.S. President Donald Trump, El Salvador’s national Bitcoin reserve, and other high-profile accounts.
Prashant Jha is a seasoned crypto journalist based in Delhi, India, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science Engineering. Passionate about the evolving world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, he has been a dedicated voice in the industry since 2018. Prashant’s expertise lies in regulatory reporting, where he unravels complex legal and financial developments with clarity and precision. Before joining CCN in 2024, he honed his craft at Cointelegraph, establishing himself as a trusted name in crypto journalism.
His coverage spans major industry events, including the high-profile collapses of FTX, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), and LUNA, offering readers insightful analyses of their regulatory and market implications. Prashant’s technical background enables him to bridge the gap between intricate blockchain technology and its real-world applications, making his work accessible to novices and experts.
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