Bitcoins held by the US government

[zasad@]

And Lastly what they are gonna do with the cash after they sell all of it

Well, if they were to receive the money that by selling all of it, it would probably go to the funds for these different things.

• Compensation to the victims
• Funding to the different agencies that helped with the seized coins
• General funding for the government

The most important part IMO is the compensation to victims. Affected by those hacks etc. Imagine waiting for so long to get something back or something.

What kind of victims will get the money stolen from the Silk Road?
To the users and companies of this darknet market that suffered losses as a result of the closure of the Silk Road
The intelligence agencies receive funding from a federal agency, although there were agents in the Silk Road criminal case who wanted to steal bitcoins.
I think such money is credited to the federal budget.

[zasad@]

https://twitter.com/spotonchain/status/1679344293402804224
"9,825 $BTC (~$297M) was moved by the US Government from 3 wallets that hold seized Silk Road Bitcoin, around 12 hours ago.

Notably, 8,200 $BTC ($248M) was moved to a new address 361yogPsa, and then distributed to 101 recipients (each received 79.2 $BTC)."


https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/07/12/us-government-moves-300m-worth-of-bitcoin-linked-to-silk-road-on-chain-data/
Silk Road–Linked Bitcoin Worth $300M Moved by U.S. Government: On-Chain Data
The U.S. government previously sold 9,861 bitcoin for $216 million in March.

[Dictator69]

I do not think they picked the wrong time, because halving is coming in 2014 and before that the market will make a dump due to such huge amount of BTC selling and thus will provide a good chance for every investor to enter the market at lower prices. That's why they are making efforts to approve ETFs and that's the only reason they are delaying the ETFs approval.

I was making another post reply but i came to know about this post and op you have shared a good piece of information which directly indicates that we are not going to see any uptrend or bullish cycle many people are talking about in 2024. Because that's not going to happen.

[Zoomic]

The U.S. government announced plans to sell these bitcoins in batches in 2023."
__
They picked the wrong time

It doesn't seem very smart to me, and not just because of the timing to sell them, but maybe being a member of this forum I am biased. For me in the near future having Bitcoins in reserve is going to be as common for states as gold reserves, which USA keeps mostly in Fort Knox.

It would be a bit pathetic for them to sell Bitcoins now only to have to buy or mine them in the future. Although I suppose they could seize them from criminals in the future as well.

They could seize them from criminals. Even when there are no criminals, they will create one and seize their assets. Whenever government is selling off properties seize by legislation, I think they do so in batches and in discounted prices. So, bitcoin is selling in a discount price and this should be the best time to sell.

US is not so concerned to hold bitcoin and sell at a higher price. If they need money they will print more I think. But they will like to use the bitcoin at their disposal to manipulate the market in other to resuscitate the dying US dollar

[zasad@]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) gives notice that the property listed below was seized for federal forfeiture for violation
of federal law. Laws and procedures applicable to the forfeiture process can be found at 19 U.S.C. Sections 1602 - 1619, 18
U.S.C. Section 983, and 28 C.F.R. Parts 8 and 9.
To File a Petition for Remission or Mitigation:
https://www.forfeiture.gov/pdf/FBI/OfficialNotification.pdf
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION
AUGUST 18, 2023


FBI confiscated about $1,700,000 in three months

Law enforcement seized:

#ETH - $800,000.
#DAI - $469,000.
#USDT - $307,000.
#BTC - $147,000.
#XMR - $20,000.

[Bushdark]

All the money that was recoverd from scammers should have been returned to the right owners especially the exchanges where the loses happened. What I know is that all those Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that was autioned were sold to those around the government bodies because they are more cheaper than the actual price. There should be a policy to return lost properties and funds that was taken from scammers or fraudsters to the rightful owners rather than the government holding them and later auctioning them.

[zasad@]

All the money that was recoverd from scammers should have been returned to the right owners especially the exchanges where the loses happened. What I know is that all those Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that was autioned were sold to those around the government bodies because they are more cheaper than the actual price. There should be a policy to return lost properties and funds that was taken from scammers or fraudsters to the rightful owners rather than the government holding them and later auctioning them.

I don't think you understand how this system works. It is very difficult to return stolen cryptocurrencies that have been transferred many times.


https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/08/23/fbi-says-north-korean-hackers-may-try-to-sell-40m-of-bitcoin/
"FBI Says North Korean Hackers May Try to Sell $40M of Bitcoin
The FBI released six wallets linked to North Korean hackers Lazarus Group and APT38.
The North Korea-based Lazarus Group and APT38 were reportedly behind a series of cryptocurrency hacks earlier this year, including the $60 million theft from payment processor Alphapo and the $100 million exploit of Atomic Wallet, the FBI said."

If these coins are confiscated, they will belong to the US government.

[Bushdark]

All the money that was recoverd from scammers should have been returned to the right owners especially the exchanges where the loses happened. What I know is that all those Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that was autioned were sold to those around the government bodies because they are more cheaper than the actual price. There should be a policy to return lost properties and funds that was taken from scammers or fraudsters to the rightful owners rather than the government holding them and later auctioning them.

I don't think you understand how this system works. It is very difficult to return stolen cryptocurrencies that have been transferred many times.


https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/08/23/fbi-says-north-korean-hackers-may-try-to-sell-40m-of-bitcoin/
"FBI Says North Korean Hackers May Try to Sell $40M of Bitcoin
The FBI released six wallets linked to North Korean hackers Lazarus Group and APT38.
The North Korea-based Lazarus Group and APT38 were reportedly behind a series of cryptocurrency hacks earlier this year, including the $60 million theft from payment processor Alphapo and the $100 million exploit of Atomic Wallet, the FBI said."

If these coins are confiscated, they will belong to the US government.

Pretty interesting, I thought the US once have a refund policy that have stolen funds to be returned to the owners. Although I know how difficult it will be when the fund is mostly from unknowsln sources or foreign regions where it will be difficult to trace.

[Zoomic]

All the money that was recoverd from scammers should have been returned to the right owners especially the exchanges where the loses happened. What I know is that all those Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that was autioned were sold to those around the government bodies because they are more cheaper than the actual price. There should be a policy to return lost properties and funds that was taken from scammers or fraudsters to the rightful owners rather than the government holding them and later auctioning them.

I don't think you understand how this system works. It is very difficult to return stolen cryptocurrencies that have been transferred many times.

It is difficult to return stolen cryptocurrencies of a truth. Whenever there is theft of cryptocurrency or maybe confiscated because of money laundering or other illicit acts, if you begin to trace such coins, you will be surprised how far or untraceable they will be. They might have landed in different exchanges and mixers which will make it real difficult to determine the rightful owner.
Most times, the cases relating to these coins are delayed very much in the law court and from the court order the government will confiscate it.
@Bushdark so not forget that the government is not a church, they are looking for ways to get money from people and cryptocurrency is the new and easy trend to do so.

[zasad@]

All the money that was recoverd from scammers should have been returned to the right owners especially the exchanges where the loses happened. What I know is that all those Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that was autioned were sold to those around the government bodies because they are more cheaper than the actual price. There should be a policy to return lost properties and funds that was taken from scammers or fraudsters to the rightful owners rather than the government holding them and later auctioning them.

I don't think you understand how this system works. It is very difficult to return stolen cryptocurrencies that have been transferred many times.


https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/08/23/fbi-says-north-korean-hackers-may-try-to-sell-40m-of-bitcoin/
"FBI Says North Korean Hackers May Try to Sell $40M of Bitcoin
The FBI released six wallets linked to North Korean hackers Lazarus Group and APT38.
The North Korea-based Lazarus Group and APT38 were reportedly behind a series of cryptocurrency hacks earlier this year, including the $60 million theft from payment processor Alphapo and the $100 million exploit of Atomic Wallet, the FBI said."

If these coins are confiscated, they will belong to the US government.

Pretty interesting, I thought the US once have a refund policy that have stolen funds to be returned to the owners. Although I know how difficult it will be when the fund is mostly from unknowsln sources or foreign regions where it will be difficult to trace.

Citizens' deposits are protected by insurance. If an illegal act occurs, the insurance company will compensate for the damage.
If there is another practice, when there was an attempted theft or fraud, that is, when your coins could not be used. In other cases, in many countries it is difficult for an ordinary citizen to return their crypto assets.

[safar1980]

"The DEA fell victim to a sophisticated airdrop scam, mistakenly transferring over $55,000 in stablecoins.
A plea to USDT-issuer Tether to freeze the funds was too late, and the money had already gone.
 
The Drug Enforcement Administration, responsible for bringing down the dark web marketplace Silk Road, inadvertently transferred over $55,000 in cryptocurrency to a scammer in a recent airdrop blunder. "
https://www.theblock.co/post/247486/dea-sent-55000-usdt-crypto-scammer

[zasad@]

https://cryptonews.com/news/story-behind-us-governments-5-billion-bitcoin-heres-what-you-need-know.htm
The Story Behind the U.S. Government's $5 Billion in Bitcoin – Here's What You Need to Know
"The U.S. government has become one of the largest holders of Bitcoin (BTC), acquiring approximately 200,000 coins (worth around $5 billion) through seizures related to criminal activities.

The digital assets were seized from cybercriminals and darknet markets and are securely stored offline in encrypted hardware wallets controlled by various federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)."

[zasad@]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/united-states-seized-and-files-forfeiture-action-recover-over-54-million-cryptocurrency
United States Seized and Files Forfeiture Action to Recover over $54 Million of Cryptocurrency Traceable to Narcotics Distribution Scheme
!"“The civil action we are taking today seeks to recover millions of dollars of cryptocurrency, which the defendant allegedly obtained from drug sales. Whether it’s as simple as bags of cash or as sophisticated as cryptocurrency, we will take the steps necessary to seize financial gains defendants obtain from criminal activity.”
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger "

[zasad@]

https://www.theblock.co/post/279733/us-government-initiates-around-922-million-in-bitcoin-transfers-from-seized-bitfinex-hack-funds

"US government initiates around $922 million in bitcoin transfers from seized Bitfinex hack funds
Arkham Intelligence data showed that two wallets containing the seized funds made multiple transfers to unidentified addresses on Wednesday.

The U.S. government appears to have transferred out about $922 million worth of bitcoin from two crypto wallets that held funds seized from a 2016 Bitfinex hack, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

One wallet first transferred out 1 bitcoin ($60,200) on Wednesday afternoon EST and subsequently transferred out 2817 bitcoin worth around $172.74 million to unidentified addresses, the data showed."

Maybe it's related to this case
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5486895.0

[zasad@]

https://cryptonews.net/news/bitcoin/28718789/
CryptoQuant: US government holds 210k Bitcoins with $14.4b unrealized profit

"The U.S. government’s holdings of 210,392 BTC worth $14.4 billion make the country one of the largest holders of the coin.

The head of CryptoQuant, Ki Young Ju, noted that the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, and other departments have not sold a single Bitcoin (BTC) since July 2023. The government’s unrealized profits increased 2.4 times."

[fundlan]

You can see the https://fundlan.com/bitcoin-source-cod/ on the GitHub site (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin).

Bitcoin mining source code
Bitcoin is mined by a pool of globally distributed computers running the Bitcoin software that verifies transaction records, adds them to the blockchain, and awards Bitcoin units in exchange.

Cryptocurrency mining involves solving complex arithmetic challenges, and the first computer or set of computers to resolve such issues is remunerated in the form of Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin source code has a mining process implemented within it. There is an open-source reference RPC miner written by a Bitcoin developer for advanced users who know Python.

Such a miner will be a very basic form of a CPU bitcoin miner. Mining is, however, very resource-intensive and needs to be supported by powerful hardware for it to be effective.

[zasad@]

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/04/02/silk-road-bitcoin-worth-2b-moved-by-us-government-on-chain-data/
Silk Road Bitcoin Worth $2B Moved by U.S. Government: On-Chain Data
"A wallet tagged as belonging to the U.S. government moved 30,175 bitcoins on Tuesday.
Some 2,000 of the bitcoin were moved to a wallet identified as being to Coinbase, with the rest to another government-tagged wallet.
A wallet tagged as belonging to the U.S. government moved 30,175 bitcoins late Tuesday morning. With bitcoin's (BTC) current price around the $65,000 level, that would be roughly $2 billion worth of the token.
The last confirmed sale by the government – which in late 2022 seized roughly 50,000 bitcoins related to the Silk Road website – was in March 2023, when it unloaded 9,861 coins for $216 million."

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

With bitcoin's (BTC) current price around the $65,000 level, that would be roughly $2 billion worth of the token.

If they dump all those bitcoins on the market, it will take some days for the market to absorb it. News about big on-chain Bitcoin movements can cause panic and fear because people are fearful of possible dump. However with daily trading volume of Bitcoin market, this can be absorbed good enough.

Last 24 hours, trading volume is $29B.
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/

Should we call Bitcoin as a token?

It is a coin, Bitcoin, not a token like many altcoins.

[zasad@]

Should we call Bitcoin as a token?

It is a coin, Bitcoin, not a token like many altcoins.

I think it's a matter of context. If we talk about cryptocurrencies in particular, it is wrong to call Bitcoin a token, because it is a coin, but if we talk in general about digital essence, any money is a token. For 1 dollar you can buy a bottle of Pepsicola, so 1 dollar is a digital token of 1 bottle of Pepsicola 

[zasad@]

https://twitter.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1778741086418059740
"Our team created a dashboard featuring the Governments with the largest crypto holdings.

For each country, you can see their current BTC balance, balance history in USD, and a real-time feed of their most recent transactions.

Some of the largest countries on Arkham are the US, UK and Germany - now all conveniently tracked in one place."