nvestigation: the US government has 7 times less BTC than it thought
According to the journalist L0la L33tz, the Marshal Service actually controls only 28,988 BTC - about $3.4 billion. Previously, it was assumed that the US authorities had about 200,000 BTC on their balance sheet.
- These bitcoins were confiscated and officially transferred to the state.
- The calculation does not include BTC held by other agencies (FBR, DEA, etc.).
- Trackers like Arkham also display "seized" assets that the authorities cannot yet dispose of. For example, 94,000 BTC from Bitfinex hackers have not yet been recognised as fully confiscated.
Conclusion: the real volume of BTC under the control of the U.S. government can be significantly overestimated in public statistics.