The U.S. Government Now Holds Over $8 Billion in Bitcoin

Thanks to healthy price gains, the U.S. federal government now holds at least $8.3 billion in Bitcoin—a figure that stood at $5 billion less than three months ago. Between November 2020 and 2022, U.S. authorities disclosed a total of 207,189 Bitcoins confiscated in three separate operations related to the Silk Road darknet market, its hacker Jimmy Zhong, and hackers of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex Coin (BTC). Less than 5% of the Bitcoins seized were sold, and last February, the government sold 9,861 BTC that once belonged to Silk Road on Coinbase. The transactions generated $215 million in revenue for the government and sold for an average of $21,800 per Bitcoin, roughly half the current price. U.S. prosecutors at the time said they intended to sell the remaining Silk Road Bitcoins — 41,491 BTC, worth $1 billion at the time and $1.8 billion today — in four tranches over the next calendar year. This period will expire in two months. (Blockworks)