According to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by independent cryptocurrency journalist L0la L33tz, the U.S. Marshals Service currently holds just over 28,988 BTC, valued at approximately $3.4 billion as of March — down 85.6% from estimates made by many previous research organizations.
Arkham Intelligence estimated that the total cryptocurrency assets held by the U.S. government is around $25 billion, dispersed across various federal agencies. However, it is very difficult to accurately determine which agency holds the cryptocurrency due to the lack of a centralized public database and the asset seizure operations often occurring in secrecy.
Bitcoin Treasuries, another data source, estimates that the U.S. government holds approximately 198,012 BTC, equivalent to $25 billion — a figure many times higher than what the Department of Justice has reported through FOIA.
The U.S. Marshals Service is the agency responsible for enforcing federal court decisions, typically tasked with managing and auctioning off assets seized by organizations such as the FBI or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The aforementioned FOIA request was submitted by L33tz, founder of The Rage, in March at the suggestion of Bitcoin Magazine President, David Bailey, to "accurately verify the amount of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency assets that the government holds." Bailey had previously promised to reward $10,000 to anyone who completed this task.
Former President Donald Trump once stated that the U.S. government would retain Bitcoin as part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Last March, he signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to transfer their cryptocurrency assets to the Department of the Treasury for centralized management in the reserve fund.
David Sacks, the "crypto czar" of the Trump administration, has also proposed "budget-neutral" strategies to increase the amount of Bitcoin held by the government. The executive order dated March 6 also established a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, comprising digital assets other than Bitcoin seized from criminal and civil cases.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a strong supporter of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, expressed concern on X:
"I am really concerned about the information that the U.S. has sold over 80% of its reserved Bitcoin, leaving only about 29,000 BTC. If true, this is a serious strategic mistake that puts the U.S. years behind in the Bitcoin race."
