Despite selling a few thousand bitcoins earlier in the year, The US government has become one of the largest holders of Bitcoin (Bitcoin), with over 200,000 Bitcoin worth over $5 billion.
According to data analysis based on public documents, the cryptocurrency company 21.co estimated that the US government still owns 194,188 bitcoinsWith an estimated value of $5.3 billion. The company confirmed in its analysis that this is the case “Backward estimates based on publicly available information.”
The analysis follows the movements of Bitcoin held in US government wallets Associated with the three largest Bitcoin seizures since 2020or that Silk Road with 69,369 Bitcoin I am in november 2020, so for Bitfinex hack with 94,643 Bitcoin In January 2022 and that James Chung with 51,326 Bitcoin In March 2022.
The government’s Bitcoin stock is primarily stored offline in encrypted storage devices known as hardware wallets. Maintained by the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service. The US government has seized two major operations in 2022.
Related: US government plans to sell 41,000 bitcoins linked to Silk Road case
Confiscated assets do not immediately become government property. US Marshals Servicethe main agency responsible for the sale of seized assets, He only gets the bitcoins after the court has issued a final judgment of forfeiture.
In addition, from time to time, the US government sells a portion of seized bitcoins through an auction system based on court liquidation orders. The most important government auction dates back to 2014When the billionaire Tim Draper He bought 30,000 bitcoins from US government auctions.
However, in recent years, The US government has turned to cryptocurrency exchanges to sell seized bitcoins. A public auction was held in March this year, when the government sold it 9,118 BTC on Coinbaseas confirmed by a public document.
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