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MicroStrategy is currently the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC) in the crypto world. However, the US government has also become a major player with BTCs seized in various operations, taking control of a total of 70,000 BTC from Silk Road just last month.
US Government Holds $8.3 Billion Worth of Bitcoin
The recent rise in Bitcoin’s price has been a significant source for the US government, which holds a substantial amount of BTC. Latest figures indicate that the value of federal officials’ Bitcoin assets has risen to at least $8.3 billion, marking a significant increase from the $5 billion reported less than three months ago.
The increase in the US government’s Bitcoin assets is attributed to actions taken by federal officials between November 2020 and 2022. During this period, 207,189 BTC were seized in three separate operations. These Bitcoins are connected to various cases, including the largest darknet hub Silk Road, hacker Jimmy Zhong, and hackers involved in the hacking of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. In contrast, MicroStrategy holds 189,150 BTC, worth approximately $5.9 billion, and is actively pursuing initiatives to acquire more.
Notably, less than 5% of the BTCs seized by the US government have been sold to date. Federal officials liquidated 9,861 BTC previously owned by Silk Road last February by transferring them to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The sale generated revenue of $215 million at an average price of $21,800 per BTC.
Furthermore, federal officials had announced their intention to sell the remaining Bitcoins from Silk Road, totaling 41,491 BTC, which had a value of $1 billion at the time and is now worth $1.8 billion. According to Blockworks, these sales are planned to be carried out in four batches within the next calendar year, with two months remaining until this period ends. Consequently, the crypto world is currently focused on the flow of information regarding the US government’s Bitcoin assets and potential sales.
US Could Have Held 400,000 BTC Today
According to Chainalysis, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) potentially completed a group Bitcoin sale by transferring 8,200 BTC to Coinbase in July of the previous year, valued at $252 million then and $350 million now. However, this transaction has not yet been officially confirmed.
If this transaction is recognized as a sale, it would show that the US government has gained $640 million by seizing and selling numerous Bitcoins over the last decade. The fact that the price of BTC has increased 70-fold during this period makes the situation particularly noteworthy. If US authorities had kept all the seized BTCs, they would now hold 400,000 BTC worth $17.4 billion. Moreover, the US could potentially surpass El Salvador, Ukraine, Bhutan, Venezuela, and Finland to become the state with the most Bitcoin holdings. China, which seized 195,000 BTC (worth $8.4 billion) in 2020, could have been a competitor to the US today if it had not sold those assets.
The crypto market anticipates more Silk Road Bitcoin liquidations by the US government in the coming months. Meanwhile, there is no official timeline for the sale of BTCs seized from Bitfinex hackers Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan. Market participants are closely monitoring developments regarding these potential sales in the dynamic crypto market environment.
