El Salvador has restructured its bitcoin treasury management, moving away from a single-wallet approach to distributing holdings across multiple addresses.
As of August 30, the country’s National Bitcoin Office confirmed that no individual address now holds more than 500 BTC, with the government’s total stash of 6,284 BTC—worth over $681 million—spread across 14 separate addresses.
Motivation for the shift
The Salvadoran government stated that this change aligns its reserve strategy with global best practices and addresses risks posed by advances in quantum computing.
Quantum machines could theoretically compromise the cryptography protecting bitcoin private keys, raising concerns about the long-term security of digital wallets.
Previously, El Salvador’s use of a single, reused address exposed its public key indefinitely, increasing vulnerability to potential attacks.
Reducing quantum exposure
By distributing funds across multiple unused addresses, the government aims to limit exposure.
The National Bitcoin Office explained:
“Limiting funds in each address reduces exposure to quantum threats because an unused Bitcoin address with hashed public keys remains protected. Once funds are spent from an address, its public keys are revealed and vulnerable. By splitting funds into smaller amounts, the impact of a potential quantum attack is minimized.”
Industry reaction and ongoing accumulation
Stacy Herbert, head of the National Bitcoin Office, described the move as both strategic and precautionary, noting El Salvador’s leadership in establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Nick Neuman, co-founder of CasaHODL, praised the country for taking proactive steps to protect its holdings.
As of press time, pseudonymous analyst Mononaut reported that the government’s bitcoin is now distributed across 14 newly created addresses.
For more details on El Salvador’s current and historical bitcoin holdings, see the El Salvador bitcoin treasury tracker.
