Government BTC reserves 'shrunk' by 85%? US Marshals Service holding data sparks selling speculation
The latest disclosure of Bitcoin holdings by the US Marshals Service (USMS) has drawn widespread attention in the market. According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the agency currently holds only 28,988 BTC, valued at approximately $3.45 billion, a figure far from the market's common estimate of 200,000, accounting for only 15% of the anticipated scale.
Independent journalist L0la L33etz pointed out that this discrepancy arises from the legal distinction between seized assets and forfeited assets. The 29,000 Bitcoins disclosed are assets that have completed the legal forfeiture process, while approximately 170,000 remain in a seized state, not yet formally forfeited through court proceedings.
This disclosure immediately triggered strong reactions from politicians. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a long-time advocate for establishing a national Bitcoin strategic reserve, publicly expressed concern, stating that if the government indeed sold 80% of its Bitcoin reserves, it would be a strategic error and set the United States back years in the Bitcoin race.
However, data from blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence indicates that the actual number of Bitcoins controlled by the US government remains close to 198,000, valued at over $23 billion, which includes 94,000 BTC related to the famous Bitfinex hacking case. As these seized assets are often counted in total holdings by tracking platforms, this leads to a significant discrepancy between market perception and official data.
It is noteworthy that the disclosed documents contain a large amount of key information about storage procedures, wallet addresses, etc., which have been omitted for legal and security reasons. Overall, the transparency of the operational processes of the US Marshals Service, as the primary manager of federal digital assets, has once again become a focal point.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, finding a balance between law enforcement and transparency will emerge as an important issue that regulatory bodies need to address urgently. At the same time, this incident also reminds us that establishing a unified and transparent national digital asset reserve management system is urgently needed.
What are your thoughts on the difference between the BTC holdings disclosed by USMS and market expectations? Do you believe the US government has indeed sold a large amount of BTC? Will this affect public trust in government transparency?
