The U.S. government still possesses a massive stash of Bitcoin—over 198,000 BTC worth approximately $23.5 billion. This clarification came from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, following widespread confusion in the crypto community triggered by partial data released by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).
Arkham: No Massive Sell-Off Took Place
While a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request revealed that US Marshals hold 28,988 BTC (around $3.44 billion), Arkham emphasized that this figure represents only part of the total.
In reality, the government holds at least 198,000 BTC, distributed across several federal agencies—including the FBI, IRS, and Department of Justice. These agencies do not publicly disclose their crypto balances, making verification difficult.
Arkham also noted that none of these funds have moved in the past four months, suggesting that no large-scale liquidation has taken place.
Senator Lummis: “That Would Be a Strategic Mistake”
Responding to initial claims of depleted Bitcoin reserves, Senator Cynthia Lummis expressed concern on X:
“If the U.S. has sold over 80% of its Bitcoin reserves, leaving only ~29,000 coins, that would be a massive strategic error.”
Arkham clarified that the FOIA request was specific to US Marshals, who traditionally handle asset seizures and auctions. Other agencies holding Bitcoin were not included in the disclosure.
Largest Holdings from Bitfinex and Silk Road Cases
Arkham identified key criminal cases accounting for the bulk of U.S. Bitcoin reserves:
🔹 114,599 BTC ($13.65B) – seized from Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan (“Razzlekhan”) in the Bitfinex hack
🔹 69,370 BTC – seized from the mysterious “Individual X” linked to Silk Road
🔹 51,680 BTC – stolen by James Zhong from Silk Road
🔹 Other notable seizures include tens of millions in BTC from HashFlare scammers and post-FTX fallout
Sales Processed Through Coinbase
Over the past few years, the U.S. has sold portions of its BTC—most commonly through Coinbase Prime. For example:
🔹 March 2023 – 9,861 BTC for $215M
🔹 August 2024 – 10,000 BTC for $593.9M
🔹 December 2024 – 10,000 BTC for $968.6M
🔹 July 2024 – 58.7 BTC from Ryan Farace
Despite these sales, Arkham insists the government still holds large reserves—just the Bitfinex and Silk Road cases alone account for over 150,000 BTC.
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