Wow! US Gov among largest Bitcoin hodlers with over $5B in BTC - and Tim Draper?

[Hamza2424]

Haha, First of all, look at the news source, hehe a fud creator + most of the time shitposting media, Besides that, I don't want to be rude on it, but taking the news into count I cant understand this situation right now should I call it hypocrisy? These double standards why?

For a long SEC and the US government have been pretending to be anti-Bitcoin and pro-CBDC and blah blah, so why they are holding such immense amounts of Bitcoins? TBH I can be sure that's just a rumor becasue their own words are not even clear and after reading a couple fo the posts, I can be more sure about it.

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[m2017]

If they were a bit smart what they would do is HODL them and keep accumulating as many as they can seize, as I am sure that in the future Bitcoin reserves for the states are going to be like gold reserves today. The only thing is they need a much smaller space than Fort Knox to store large amounts.

This is something to think about, isn't it? If the US government had "positive" plans for the bitcoin, it would continue to hold it. And as we see, they are trying to get rid of this “toxic” asset for them. How can we talk about Fort Knox here?

Another scenario is possible: the government sells only “public” bitcoin, continuing to accumulate BTC “below the radar”.

[Distinctin]

@Distinctin, aren't you fed up with the bad and fake stories that come from that site?

I know they have an issue of fake news but I did some confirmation of this particular report and it seems like it's also reported in another news outlet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2023/06/16/us-government-owns-way-more-bitcoin-than-any-other-countryso-why-arent-they-selling-it/?sh=50bf978f1f32

Washington owns more than $5 billion worth of seized bitcoin and has been reluctant to part with it. That may represent inertia more than strategy.

So it's safe to assume that such information is true.

It seems to me that someone has spread this kind of news right now because they want to create panic when the price rises, and there is no solid evidence that the US government has even 10% of the amount that is being speculated about. Even if by some chance it is true, I don't see a problem with that, Satoshi made Bitcoin for everyone, including the US government.

I'm not sure if there's a specific website to verify the accuracy of the statement, but since it's in the news, I assume they wouldn't report it without a basis. Otherwise, it could damage their reputation. There's one site called the "US Government Seized Bitcoin Sales Tracker." Maybe you can check it out and see for yourself.

https://jlopp.github.io/us-marshals-bitcoin-auctions/

US Government Seized Bitcoin Sales Tracker
Auction Date   BTC Sold   USD Acquired   News Article
27-06-2014   29,657   $18,740,000   Tim Draper Wins First Bitcoin Batch
04-12-2014   50,000   $19,000,000   US Marshals Complete Second Auction
01-03-2015   50,000   $13,500,000   US Marshals March Auction
05-11-2015   44,341   $14,600,000   Final Silk Road Auction
22-08-2016   2,719   $1,600,000   US Marshals announce $1.6M Auction
22-01-2018   3,813   $42,000,000   US Marshals Announcement
05-11-2018   660   $4,000,000   US Marshals set to Auction bitcoins worth $4M
01-02-2020   4,040   $38,000,000   US Marshals Announcement
03-17-2021   0.7501   $53,104   GSA Auction
07-01-2021   500   $19,200,000   Ohio DOJ Auction
03-14-2023   9,861   $215,000,000   Coinbase Sale of BTC seized from Silk Road hacker
TBD   96,000   TBD   Seizure News
TBD   69,370   TBD   Seizure News
TBD   41,819
(51,680 − 9,861)   TBD   Seizure News

In July 2014: $600 x 30,000 BTC = $18,000,000
In October 2023: $28,000 x 30,000 BTC = $840,000,000

Based on these numbers, it's safe to say he made a huge amount of money from that purchase, potentially even hitting the $1 billion mark if he sold during the last bull run when Bitcoin hit $60,000.

In case you did a little research and effort, you would have found out that Tim Draper invested the purchased BTC shortly after he bought it. This means that he did not make a direct profit from it, but it is possible that he earned even more through the investment he made.

In the post authored by Vaurum CEO Avish Bhama, the company announced that Draper intends to partner with Vaurum to use the roughly 30,000 BTC to provide bitcoin liquidity in emerging markets.
Draper said:
"With the help of Vaurum and this newly purchased bitcoin, we expect to be able to create new services that can provide liquidity and confidence to markets that have been hamstrung by weak currencies."

The news didn't state that he invested the amount directly after the purchase. It was clearly mentioned that he "intends" to partner with Vaurum, which means there hasn't been an investment yet. But regardless of whether the investment pushed through or not, what was invested is Bitcoin. If the business succeeds, he'll grow his Bitcoin holdings and increase their value in the long run. So, my initial calculation might actually be quite understated.

[OgNasty]

So many people criticized Tim Draper for his buy back in 2014 and for a little while he seemed like an idiot as I believe he lost something like 75% of his investment almost immediately. The story from there has been shocking though and I think it will continue. The wealth of early Bitcoin investors could become insanely vast in the next rally.

[danadc]

Of course and I think that all the gfobiorernos in the world too, so you won't be surprised if some presidents and entities of the gfobiorerno have a lot of bitcoins and even though they come on the news and say that this is a very dangerous action, they do not recommend it also they are going to make regulations to protect their people, when they say all those things it is because people should simply leave out of that bubble of innocence where they believe that all governments are here to help people, they do not comply with having a lot of bitcoin, but also scarle money to the people who have bitcoin through taxes.

[shield132]

If they were a bit smart what they would do is HODL them and keep accumulating as many as they can seize, as I am sure that in the future Bitcoin reserves for the states are going to be like gold reserves today. The only thing is they need a much smaller space than Fort Knox to store large amounts.

If I HODL, you HODL, they HODL, then what's the point? If we just HODL it and don't use it, bitcoin will not magically grow, especially when it's not water and can be changed with altcoins. I know bitcoin has a lot of advantages but there will be none if everyone move on HODL mode. I think that money has to be in circulation, this grows economy, this creates new things, this makes us alive. We can't develop with hodling and sleep.

On the other hand, this is telling us that actually the USA government is looking at Bitcoin with real value and something that is not illegal, otherwise maybe they would just destruct them...just like what they could be doing with illegal drugs seized on different operations.

I mean, it would make zero sense for them to simply just send the BTC to a burn address or to just destroy the keys altogether if they can just sell it legally. Comparing it to illegal drugs makes zero sense either because it's literally illegal to buy/sell/use illegal drugs.

Will exchanges block my accounts if I receive bitcoins from US government, that were previously used for illegal activities? Just wondering...

[el kaka22]

I mean they had the biggest one at that darknet website owner thingy, that was alone a huge one and they still probably have some of it. I think it's fine, governments could and even should own bitcoin, it does help them realize how much profit they are making.

Think about a nation that seized bitcoin at 2014, and it was just 100 million dollars, and now it is maybe 5 billion, wouldn't that nation reconsider their stance on bitcoin because of that? I would, and I am sure that "governments" are filled with people like you and me, so that means they would definitely consider that as a good thing. I believe that they may hold a lot, but they may actually consider buying even more to have some good investment structure for bitcoin.

[livingfree]

They've put many of those in auctions and that's the whole plan and if ever they still have a lot on their stash, who's the real winner? Yeah them.

While it is intriguing on what happens to the seized Bitcoins and if it's still on their possession and if there is an audit on it, then they should release that as well.

But if it's confidential and we can't even have a glance of it and somehow they'll just announce that they still have a lot of it and they don't have plans of selling it, who cares?

[Sophokles]

This amount is small in value compared to the capabilities of the US government. They have an unlimited money printing machine and it won't take much effort for them to print another five bills. Most of this BTC that they are holding is from the Silk Road crackdown so they are likely to liquidate in the market gradually. So there is nothing to be amazed that they are not an investor, they are most likely potential sellers.

[blue Snow]

The United States government has become one of the largest Bitcoin BTC $28,368 holders, with over 200,000 BTC worth more than $5 billion despite selling a few thousand BTC worth millions earlier this year.

According to a data analysis based on public filings, crypto firm 21.co estimated that the U.S. government still holds 194,188 BTC, estimated to be worth $5.3 billion. The firm noted in its analysis that these are “lower-bound estimations of the U.S. government holdings based on publicly available information.”

I don't surprise with how much bitcoin US have, because other big country like China have the same with US have, 194,000 BTC which they confiscated it from illegal activities such as exchange hacking, and etc. So, I think US do stupid think if want to sell all bitcoins they have on market. Because we don't know next, if the public doesn't have trust again with the dollar, that probably crash, and the dollar won't have value again. After the US government sold its BTC, the company and the government (china) will rule the economic world if Bitcoin becomes a currency that replaces fiat.

https://www.binance.com/en/feed/post/1198419

[OcTradism]

I don't surprise with how much bitcoin US have, because other big country like China have the same with US have, 194,000 BTC which they confiscated it from illegal activities such as exchange hacking, and etc. So, I think US do stupid think if want to sell all bitcoins they have on market. Because we don't know next, if the public doesn't have trust again with the dollar, that probably crash, and the dollar won't have value again. After the US government sold its BTC, the company and the government (china) will rule the economic world if Bitcoin becomes a currency that replaces fiat.

People are only too pessimistic and panic about it. The USA. will sell those bitcoins they seized from illegal activities but they will have two options. Dump it at one day or sell it gradually. Of course we know the better is selling it gradually as the market will not have big shock. However even if the USA. government will dump all those bitcoins on a single day, market will have a shock but will it be the end of Bitcoin or will it cause Bitcoin to drop to like $15,000 or lower?

I am very doubtful that it will result in too much deep crash for Bitcoin. If any crash happens, I expect it won't be worse than what we had in history.

Bitcoin historical corrections from all time highs.
Bitcoin crashes - A visual history.

[Distinctin]

The United States government has become one of the largest Bitcoin BTC $28,368 holders, with over 200,000 BTC worth more than $5 billion despite selling a few thousand BTC worth millions earlier this year.

According to a data analysis based on public filings, crypto firm 21.co estimated that the U.S. government still holds 194,188 BTC, estimated to be worth $5.3 billion. The firm noted in its analysis that these are “lower-bound estimations of the U.S. government holdings based on publicly available information.”

I don't surprise with how much bitcoin US have, because other big country like China have the same with US have, 194,000 BTC which they confiscated it from illegal activities such as exchange hacking, and etc. So, I think US do stupid think if want to sell all bitcoins they have on market. Because we don't know next, if the public doesn't have trust again with the dollar, that probably crash, and the dollar won't have value again. After the US government sold its BTC, the company and the government (china) will rule the economic world if Bitcoin becomes a currency that replaces fiat.

https://www.binance.com/en/feed/post/1198419

That would be a remarkable turn of events if it were to happen worldwide, where FIAT currency collapses, and Bitcoin reigns supreme. It's not impossible, but it's unlikely because no country would willingly adopt something they can't control. We're well aware of how corrupt some nations can be, even if they may appear progressive, so I have my doubts.

As for the Bitcoin they are holding, it does seem a bit odd to hold onto it since it was confiscated from illegal activities. In a typical scenario, it should be destroyed, but unlike illegal drugs and weapons that can be disposed of, Bitcoin is a digital asset. Therefore, they've chosen to monetize it and consider it as income. Since they've publicized the amount of Bitcoin they've confiscated, the public will indeed be keeping an eye on it, and they might not have many options other than selling it to exchanges.