The US authorities presently holds round 198,109 Bitcoin value $17.7 billion, based on knowledge from blockchain analytics agency Arkham Intelligence, a stash that it constructed primarily by seizures and forfeitures in legal instances.
A portion of that Bitcoin (BTC) will ultimately kind a part of the nation’s “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” that President Donald Trump signed into existence together with his March 6 govt order, which says the reserve will maintain any Bitcoin “forfeited as a part of legal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings or in satisfaction of any civil cash penalty.”
The order additionally duties federal companies with determining how a lot forfeited Bitcoin they maintain so it may be added to the cache. Whereas the business awaits the official audits, Cointelegraph has gathered a timeline of among the greatest occasions that made the US the world’s largest nation-state holder of Bitcoin.
69,370 BTC in November 2020: First Silk Street seizure
US authorities seized 69,370 Bitcoin on Nov. 3, 2020 — its largest crypto seizure on the time value $960 million — from an unidentified particular person who hacked the illicit on-line market Silk Street.
The hacker, referred to as “Particular person X,” surrendered the funds after US officers traced the stolen Bitcoin linked to pockets addresses that they used to work together with Ross Ulbricht's Silk Road platform earlier than it was shut down in 2013.
On Dec. 30, 2024, a district court docket decide denied a movement to dam the forfeiture of 69,370 Bitcoin, clearing the Division of Justice to promote the stash, which had swollen to a worth of $6.5 billion.
94,636 BTC in January 2022: Bitfinex hack
US regulation enforcement officers seized 94,636 Bitcoin from Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein on Jan. 31, 2022, after they hacked into his cloud storage account, which contained a file holding round 2,000 crypto pockets addresses and corresponding non-public keys.
The Bitcoin that US authorities seized represented about 80% of the 119,754 Bitcoin that Lichtenstein stole from Bitfinex.
Supply: Scott Melker
Lichtenstein and his spouse Heather Morgan laundered the opposite 25,111 Bitcoin earlier than US officers efficiently executed the search warrant.
Lichtenstein and Morgan have been sentenced to five years imprisonment and 18 months, respectively, in late 2024.
Galaxy’s head of analysis, Alex Thorn, nonetheless, noted that the stolen Bitfinex funds are solely seized funds and haven't been forfeited.
In consequence, these funds could also be handed again to Bitfinex.
51,351 BTC in March 2022: Second Silk Street seizure
US authorities seized and efficiently sought the forfeiture of 51,351 Bitcoin from a Silk Street hacker named James “Jimmy” Zhong — who could or is probably not “Particular person X” — in March 2022.
Zhong surrendered the funds round 4 months after US officers discovered Bitcoin units in an underground floor safe and in a popcorn tin saved in Zhong’s toilet closet at his house in November 2022.
The 51,351 Bitcoin was valued at round $3.38 billion on the time, making it one of many largest monetary asset seizures in US historical past.
US offered some Bitcoin
The US sold 9,861 Bitcoin for $215.7 million on March 14, 2023, which got here totally from the Bitcoin seized from Zhong.
The remaining Bitcoin from Zhong’s forfeiture was anticipated to be liquidated in 4 extra batches all through 2023, however that didn’t eventuate.
This previous January, the Division of Justice received the green light to promote the 198,109 Bitcoin seized from Silk Street.
Nonetheless, the Biden administration didn’t take motion earlier than Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Associated: Texas Senate passes Bitcoin strategic reserve bill
Whereas the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will solely initially begin with forfeited BTC, the White Home mentioned its Commerce and Treasury Secretaries would discover how you can purchase extra for free of charge to US taxpayers.
The institution of the Bitcoin reserve means no funds inside it is going to be offered — a transfer that White Home AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks criticized the earlier US administration for endeavor.
Supply: David Sacks
Journal: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins
