Key Takeaways
- The DOJ introduced immediately that it seized 50,676.17 BTC from a Silk Highway exploiter in November 2021.
- The haul is among the largest in DOJ historical past.
- The U.S. authorities is at the moment one of many largest Bitcoin whales, and owns over 214,046 BTC at minimal.
Share this text
Over the previous few years, america authorities has turn into one of many largest Bitcoin whales just by seizing illegally obtained funds. Finally, it should in all probability search to liquidate these funds via personal auctions.
Over 50,000 BTC Seized
The US authorities owns an unlimited quantity of Bitcoin.
Right this moment, the Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced that it seized a little bit over 50,676.17 BTC (value roughly $1 billion at immediately’s costs) in November 2021 from a Bitcoin dealer named James Zhong. Zhong obtained the sum by defrauding darknet market Silk Highway by exploiting the platform’s withdrawal mechanism in September 2012; he pleaded responsible to 1 depend of wire fraud final week, on November 4, 2022.
The DOJ publicized the confiscation as a $3.36 billion haul, which, whereas right on the time of the enforcement motion, fails to consider that Bitcoin is now down 69% from its all-time excessive. Nonetheless, the seizure is notable—it’s the third largest in cryptocurrency historical past by Crypto Briefing’s depend—particularly contemplating the quantity of Bitcoin the U.S. authorities already has underneath its management.
Over $4.43 Billion in Bitcoin
Along with the 50,676 BTC seized from Zhong, the U.S. authorities has already acquired on the very least 163,370 BTC during the last two years, for a grand complete of 214,046 BTC, or about $4.43 billion, minimal.
In November 2020, the DOJ captured 69,370 BTC (value over $1.4 billion immediately) from one other Silk Highway person, publicized as “Particular person X” by the division. On the time, this was the community’s fourth-largest Bitcoin tackle; the seizure formally made the U.S. authorities one of many largest Bitcoin whales on the planet.
The company additionally seized over 94,000 BTC from Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, claiming the couple was conspiring to launder proceeds from the crypto change Bitfinex’s notorious hack in 2016. The sum, value $3.6 billion on the time, is now value over $1.9 billion.
Proudly owning 214,046 BTC makes the U.S. authorities a tremendously massive Bitcoin whale. In line with BitInfoCharts, just one BTC pockets—labeled as Binance’s chilly storage pockets—accommodates a bigger sum, 252,597 BTC, and these funds most definitely belong to Binance clients, not the change itself.
Looking for the most important BTC wallets doesn’t give the total image, nevertheless, as whales are prone to divide their holdings between varied wallets. For instance, Satoshi Nakamoto, the nameless creator of Bitcoin, owns greater than 1.1 million BTC, however the quantity is break up between 22,000 completely different wallets.
Is the U.S. authorities the most important Bitcoin whale apart from Satoshi? It’s arduous to say, however it definitely holds greater than Bitcoin’s largest public advocate, Michael Saylor. By means of his software program firm, Microstrategy, Saylor was capable of accumulate over 130,000 BTC over the course of the previous two years.
Concern for Bitcoin Holders?
Sometimes, the U.S. authorities liquidates its Bitcoin holdings via the U.S. Marshalls Service via public auctions. For instance, Enterprise Capitalist Tim Draper famously purchased 30,000 BTC from the federal government in 2014 for about $18.5 million—or roughly $616 per coin. More than likely, the BTC seized by the DOJ will probably be equally provided to the general public.
In recent times, the DOJ has tried to time its auctions in line with market gyrations to promote its holdings for the best worth potential. In November 2021, it auctioned off $56 million value of cryptocurrencies seized from a BitConnect promoter, efficiently liquidating the holdings on the peak of the bull market. Whether or not the company may have the persistence to attend for Bitcoin to rise once more earlier than promoting its holdings is but to be seen. Up to now, it has restrained itself from liquidating the proceeds from the Particular person X and Razzlekhan confiscations.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other different digital property.
