The sale of the bitcoin would have been in violation of President Donald Trump Executive Order 14233 which states that Bitcoins obtained by criminal or civil forfeiture must be returned to their owners. “shall not be sold.”
A White House crypto advisor said he received confirmation from the US Department of Justice that no Bitcoin forfeited from the Samourai case was sold, putting rumors to rest.
The confirmation was shared on X by Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets:
“We have received confirmation from DOJ that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet have not been liquidated and will not be liquidated,” Witt posted to X Friday, adding that the forfeited Bitcoin would remain part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
The issue surfaced in November when blockchain analysts flagged a 57.5 Bitcoin (BTC) transfer from a US government-controlled BTC address to a Coinbase Prime deposit address.
The Marshals Service was accused of violating Executive Order 14233, signed by President Donald Trump in March, which mandates that any Bitcoin the government obtains through criminal or civil forfeiture “shall not be sold” and must be held in the SBR.
US now has over 328K BTC
Data from Bitcoin Treasuries shows that the US government holds 328,372 Bitcoin, worth over $31.3 billion at current market prices.
That tally includes a forfeited 127,271 Bitcoin forfeited in October from a Cambodia-based company that allegedly ran a “pig butchering” crypto investment scheme.
Bitcoin reserve still a “priority” for the Trump administration
In an interview on Crypto in America published on Tuesday, Witt said building out the SBR is still on the “priority list” and will move forward once the Treasury and Commerce agencies agree on how to handle certain legal requirements.
Related: Michael Saylor pushes back on criticism of Bitcoin treasury companies
The US Senator Cynthia Lummis-sponsored Bitcoin reserve bill seeks to accelerate that process, which seeks to accumulate 1 million Bitcoin over a five-year period.
The US government stated that its strategy would be to accumulate Bitcoin in budget-neutral ways, without any cost to taxpayers.
Magazine: Davinci Jeremie bought Bitcoin at $1… but $100K BTC doesn’t excite him
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Source: cointelegraph.com
