While gold remains an important investment asset, Bitcoin has exceeded the bullion in ownership among Americans, a new report says.

In contrast to 36.7 million American individuals owning gold, around 50 million Americans own Bitcoin, as per a recent report by Ohio-based financial services company River.

In fact, 14.3% of Americans own Bitcoin — the largest share of the BTC-owning population anywhere in the world.

The U.S. government itself owns 198,000 BTC — 65% of total government holdings of the king coin. In contrast, the U.S. accounts for only 30% of the world's central bank gold reserves.

American corporations aren't far behind either. 32 public companies in the country, representing a total market cap of $1.26 trillion, hold BTC on their balance sheets. These American companies account for 95% of all public BTC holders in the world.

Wall Street giants such as BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) also embraced Bitcoin once the regulator greenlit spot BTC funds in January 2024. In fact, U.S.-based Bitcoin ETFs account for nearly 80% of global Bitcoin ETF holdings.

Since 2021, U.S.-based mining companies have mined $42.6 billion in Bitcoin. In fact, the U.S. has mined 38% of all new Bitcoin since 2021. Remember that China banned crypto mining in 2021 to lag behind the U.S. and Russia.Source: River

When it comes to the country's political leadership, 59% of Senate members and 66% of House members are pro-Bitcoin. Note that on March 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

Owing to the historical trend of the U.S. being a pioneer of technological innovation, it has emerged as the leading country in Bitcoin adoption too.

As per Kraken, Bitcoin was trading at $105,391 at the time of writing.

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