I don't know if you guys realize this, but the FBI also has a considerable sum of bitcoins. I saw somewhere that the FBI is in possession of one of the biggest bitcoin wallets.
It said that they just randomly started accumulating bitcoin way back when. Kind of feels like a gov. conspiracy, right? I mean why the FBI and not the reserve... Doesn't seem jurisdictional.
The FBI doesn't accumulate or keep bitcoins. By law, any coins they seize in the course of their operations must be auctioned off.
In 2015 the FBI auctioned 44,000 bitcoins seized from Silk Road:
https://www.coindesk.com/us-marshals-final-silk-road-bitcoin-auction/The US Marshals Service (USMS) has begun its auction of 44,341 BTC seized from convicted Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht, marking the final sale in a process that began in June 2014.
The tranche constitutes the remainder of as much as 144,000 BTC seized from Ulbricht, who ran the Silk Road dark marketplace under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. Ulricht was sentenced to life in prison in May, though he is appealing the verdict.
Today's auction, the fourth held by the agency since it auctioned 30,000 BTC in June 2014, is running from 8am to 2pm local time.
According to the USMS, the event features 22 auction blocks. The first 21 blocks will each consist of 2,000 BTC up for sale, with the final tranche consisting of approximately 2,341 BTC.
Registration for the auction began on 19th October and ran through 12 pm EDT on 2nd November. Confirmed participants include the Digital Currency Group subsidiary Genesis Trading and bitcoin hedge fund Binary Financial.
With the conclusion of the sale, all funds confiscated and held during the Silk Road investigation will have been sold by the US government. Bitcoins seized from Silk Road users, as well as the market itself, have been sold in the past as well.
Later this year the FBI is going to auction another 3,813 bitcoins seized from a money laundering case:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-11/u-s-marshals-to-auction-bitcoins-valued-at-about-54-millionThere isn't anything to panic about - the auctions are held outside of the exchanges and don't affect the price much.