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The United States government continues to make headlines with issues concerning the cryptocurrency markets. According to recent reports, despite selling a few thousand Bitcoins in early 2023, the government now holds over 200,000 Bitcoins worth more than $5 billion. With this data, the US government has become one of the largest Bitcoin holders.
One of the Largest Bitcoin Holders
Cryptocurrency firm 21.co estimates that the US government holds around 194,188 Bitcoins, which is worth approximately $5.3 billion. The company revealed these estimates based on a data analysis relying on public records, emphasizing that these are minimum estimates of the government’s assets.
The analysis is based on the three largest Bitcoin seizure investigations since 2020. During the Silk Road investigation in November 2020, the government seized 69,369 Bitcoins. In the Bitfinex Hack investigation in January 2022, authorities seized 94,632 Bitcoins. Finally, following the James Zhong investigation in March 2022, which involved 51,326 Bitcoins, the movements of the government’s wallets were tracked.
The Bitcoins held by the government are stored offline in encrypted storage devices known as hardware wallets, which are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service. In 2022, the US government issued seizure orders for Bitcoin assets involved in two significant investigations.
How Does the US Government Sell BTC?
The seized assets do not belong to the government. The primary institution responsible for selling seized property, the US Marshals Service, can only take ownership of the seized Bitcoin after a court order.
Additionally, the US government occasionally sells a portion of the seized Bitcoin through an auction system based on court liquidation decisions. One of the most notable government auctions was when billionaire Tim Draper purchased 30,000 Bitcoins from a US government auction in 2014.
However, in recent years, the US government has turned to cryptocurrency exchanges to sell seized Bitcoins through public auctions. In March 2023, a sale through Coinbase saw the government sell 9,118 Bitcoins, confirmed through a public filing.
