The U.S. government currently holds about 198,109 Bitcoins (worth $17.7 billion ), mostly from criminal-related seizures. Under a March 6 executive order by former President Donald Trump , a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” would hold Bitcoins seized from criminal cases or civil fines.
The order also requires federal agencies to inventory their Bitcoin holdings to add to the fund. The United States is currently the world’s largest holder of Bitcoin.
69,370 BTC in November 2020: The First Seizure on Silk Road
On November 3, 2020 , US authorities seized 69,370 Bitcoins (worth $960 million at the time) from a hacker nicknamed “Individual X” who stole money from the Silk Road marketplace.
After being tracked down, the hacker surrendered the Bitcoins. On December 30, 2024 , the district court denied the request to block the seizure, allowing the Justice Department to sell the Bitcoins, now worth $6.5 billion .
94,636 BTC in January 2022: Bitfinex Hacked
On January 31, 2022 , the United States seized 94,636 Bitcoins from hacker Ilya Lichtenstein , after accessing his cloud storage account, which contained data on 2,000 cryptocurrency wallets and private keys.
This Bitcoin represents 80% of the total 119,754 Bitcoins that Lichtenstein stole from the Bitfinex exchange .
51,351 BTC in March 2022: Second Silk Road Seizure
In March 2022 , the United States seized 51,351 Bitcoins from hacker James “Jimmy” Zhong , suspected of being linked to “Individual X.” Zhong surrendered the Bitcoins after authorities found a money storage device in a safe and a popcorn box at his home ( November 2022 ). Valued at $3.38 billion , it was one of the largest financial asset seizures in U.S. history.
The US has sold some Bitcoin
On March 14, 2023 , the United States sold 9,861 Bitcoins (from Zhong ‘s seizure ) for $215.7 million . The remaining Bitcoins were scheduled to be sold in four tranches in 2023, but they never happened. In January 2024 , the Department of Justice was authorized to sell 198,109 Bitcoins from Silk Road , but the Biden administration did not do so before Trump took office on January 20, 2024 .
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will initially consist of only seized Bitcoin, but the White House said the Secretaries of Commerce and Treasury will seek to purchase more at no cost to taxpayers. The fund will not sell Bitcoin , a reversal of a previous policy that David Sacks criticized.
