The Federal Bureau of Investigation are the wealthiest owners of Bitcoin at present, with a share amounting to between 5 and 10 percent of the coins in circulation. This happened back in October 2013, when the FBI seized nearly 30,000 Bitcoins from SilkRoad (known as the Amazon of Drugs). At the time of writing, this amount is valued at roughly $25million USD.
Last month, the Manhattan US Attorney’s office announced that a judge had signed off on a forfeiture order for these coins, meaning they will soon be back in circulation. This presents a difficulty, as there is no legally certified Bitcoin exchange or medium that the FBI can use to sell the coins. How they will redistribute them is something of a mystery.
The FBI’s website claims that “The use of asset forfeiture in criminal investigations aims to undermine the economic infrastructure of the criminal enterprise.”
In the past, the FBI have auctioned off properties and assets that have been seized, such as the recent bust of Boston gangster James “Whitney” Bulger, whose possessions are soon to be put up for auction in order to pay compensation out to the families of his victims. Though this is a noble concept, the ability of the government to seize the assets of anyone engaging in activity deemed unlawful, is something which is open to abuse and manipulation by parties with a specific agenda...
Read more at:
http://www.coinchilli.com/the-fbi-top-of-the-bitcoin-richlist/J.C Axe
