Information that the US is about to liquidate BTC is causing a slight drop in the price of Bitcoin, despite the fact that US President-elect Donald Trump has previously stated that he will not allow the federal government to sell Bitcoin.
The US Department of Justice has been authorized by the court to sell $6.5 billion worth of seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road. Image: Fortune
According to a source from DBNews (tier10k), the US Department of Justice has been granted court approval to liquidate 69,370 BTC ($6.5 billion) seized from the Silk Road dark market.
*DOJ CLEARED TO SELL $6.5B IN SEIZED SILK ROAD BITCOIN: OFFICIAL
— db (@tier10k) January 9, 2025
Specifically, according to a ruling issued on December 30, 2024 but only now being made public, the US Department of Justice has prevailed in a legal dispute over the Bitcoin with Battle Born Investments, a company that claimed ownership of the Bitcoin through "Person X", who had transferred the BTC to the US authorities.
A representative of the US Department of Justice stated that the volatile nature of the Bitcoin price is the main reason for the agency's recommendation to take action and liquidate the BTC.
However, it is still unclear whether the decision by the US Department of Justice to sell Bitcoin will be accepted by the new US President Donald Trump. As reported by Coin68, one of Trump's key policies during the election campaign was to restore the strength of the cryptocurrency sector in the US, which does not exclude the possibility of establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve fund for the United States by using the Bitcoin seized by the Department of Justice from criminal activities over the years.
Mr. Trump also confidently stated that he "contributed" to helping the Bitcoin price reach the $100,000 mark shortly after his election, and even wants to bring the price to $150,000 "in the early part of his term".
In the past, the US government has had several occasions to sell Bitcoin, with the most recent being in March 2023, generating $216 million. The US also announced plans to liquidate another $117 million worth of BTC in January 2024, but no further updates have been provided.
By mid-2024, the US Marshals Service had signed a custody agreement with Coinbase. Since then, US officials' crypto wallets have frequently seen transfers to Coinbase, specifically 30,175 BTC ($2.1 billion) in April, 29,800 BTC ($2.02 billion) in July, and 10,000 BTC ($594 million) in August, as well as 19,780 BTC ($1.92 billion) in December. All of these BTC are believed to have originated from the Silk Road.
According to statistics from Arkham, the US government still holds over 198,100 BTC, worth $18.59 billion, as well as various other cryptocurrencies such as ETH, USDT, WBTC, and other altcoins.
Statistics on the crypto assets held by the US government. Source: Arkham (12/02/2024)
The price of Bitcoin has continued to decline over the past 48 hours, even dipping slightly after the news of the US Department of Justice being authorized to sell $6.5 billion worth of BTC was published.
Recent 24-hour BTC price movement, screenshot from CoinGecko as of 09:40 AM on 09/01/2025
Compiled by Coin68
