The United States government has become one of the largest Bitcoin (BTC) holders, with over 200,000 BTC worth more than $5 billion, despite selling a few thousand BTC worth millions earlier this year.
According to data analysis based on public filings, crypto firm 21.co estimates that the US government still owns 194,188 BTC, valued at $5.3 billion. The company noted in its analysis that these are “lower estimates of U.S. government holdings based on publicly available information.”
US Government Bitcoin Holdings. Source: Dune
The analysis tracked the Bitcoin movement of US government wallets in connection with the three largest BTC seizures since 2020, namely the Silk Road seizure of 69,369 BTC in November 2020, the Bitfinex hack seizure of 94,643 BTC in January 2022 and the James Zhong confiscated 51,326 BTC in March 2022.
Major Bitcoin Seizures by the US Government. Source: Dune
The government’s Bitcoin supply is held primarily offline in encrypted storage devices known as hardware wallets, which are managed by the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. government conducted two significant seizures in 2022.
Related: The US government plans to sell 41,000 Bitcoins related to Silk Road
Seized assets do not immediately belong to the government. The U.S. Marshals Service, the primary agency tasked with selling seized property, will only gain possession of the seized Bitcoin after a court issues a final forfeiture order.
The US government also sells some of the seized Bitcoin from time to time through an auction system based on court liquidation orders. The most notable government auction dates back to 2014, when billionaire Tim Draper purchased 30,000 BTC at US government auctions in 2014.
However, in recent years, the US government has turned to crypto exchanges to sell confiscated Bitcoins through public auctions. One such sale took place in early March this year, when the government sold 9,118 BTC on Coinbase, as confirmed by a public filing.
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