A Freedom of Info Act (FOIA) request filed in March has shed new mild on the size of Bitcoin holdings below the management of the US Marshals Service (USMS). In response to the paperwork obtained by impartial journalist L0la L33tz, the company at the moment holds precisely 28,988.35643016 BTC, inserting its worth at roughly $1.6 billion primarily based on the valuation supplied within the disclosure. Nevertheless, the USMS figures look like primarily based on a BTC worth of $56,000 per coin, whereas the market is at the moment buying and selling close to $119,000—greater than double that estimate.
Solely 28,988 Bitcoin Left?
L33tz, who printed the findings on X, emphasised that the disclosure got here immediately from the USMS in response to a proper FOIA request. “In March, we filed a FOIA request for the quantity of bitcoin held by the US Marshal Service. As we speak, we publish the USMS reply to our FOIA request, in addition to the listing of bitcoin it holds, totaling 28,988.35643016 BTC,” she wrote. The request was dated March 24, and the response was acquired on July 16.
The revelation rapidly triggered debate throughout the group. Distinguished trade figures reacted with a mixture of shock and criticism, noting that the holdings are far decrease than many had assumed. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a longtime advocate in Congress, expressed alarm: “I’m alarmed by stories that the US has offered off over 80% of its Bitcoin reserves—leaving simply ~29,000 cash. If true, it is a whole strategic blunder and units the US again years within the bitcoin race.”
David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Journal, who had beforehand provided $10,000 to any journalist who may affirm the federal government’s BTC holdings, praised the news and confirmed the cost to L33tz after verifying the paperwork. “It seems to be like we would know what number of Bitcoin the US authorities is holding now and it’s about 85% lower than thought. Explains why the worth motion was caught for thus lengthy. Bullish,” Bailey commented on X. He later added, “If Biden offered all our Bitcoin on his approach out the door, Trump goes to purchase them again 2x over lmao. Mega bullish.”
L33tz used the chance to make clear a key distinction usually misunderstood in public discourse: the distinction between seized belongings and forfeited belongings. She defined, “The USMS is principally accountable for forfeited belongings, that means belongings which have been made property of the Authorities. The listing I acquired from the USMS is a listing of all BTC held by the USMS, as requested by DB. The USMS will be accountable for seized belongings, however these can be held with seizing businesses, just like the DEA or the FBI—that means that there could also be different custody workplaces than the USMS.”
This nuance is essential as a result of many market observers had relied on on-chain analytics platforms comparable to Arkham or databases like Bitcoin Treasuries to estimate US authorities holdings. Nevertheless, L33tz famous these sources possible overstate precise government-owned Bitcoin as a result of they monitor seized belongings, not these formally forfeited and obtainable for liquidation. “To the geniuses which have linked Arkham’s gov pockets tracker: these don’t appear to be BTC which have been made the Gov’s property—at the very least not solely—which implies they’ll’t promote them. For instance, Arkham lists 94k BTC from the Bitfinex hack, however forfeiture within the Bitfinex case hasn’t been determined, at the very least final time I checked,” she wrote.
The FOIA disclosure additionally sheds mild on the operational course of. The USMS has traditionally managed forfeited digital belongings and liquidated them through public auctions, a follow relationship again to the early days of BTC when the company offered cash from the Silk Street seizures. L33tz said, “US Marshal Service liquidates belongings in public auctions, so until they introduced a sale, this listing ought to be correct.” This means the present holdings characterize cash awaiting public sale slightly than lively strategic reserves.
The findings have additionally reignited hypothesis about attainable covert gross sales by the Biden administration throughout the transition interval. Govt Director of the Bitcoin Coverage Institute Matthew Pines remarked through X, “Nice work by Lola, which if true, confirms my suspicion that the Biden admin was covertly promoting OTC throughout the transition. Notice: my understanding is the full BTC in USG possession is considerably bigger than this quantity however its origin & current disposition is assessed.”
Others, like Galaxy Digital’s Alex Thorn, cautioned towards assuming the FOIA response captures all the image of federal BTC holdings. “That is nice journalistic work from L0la, however I wish to word that the US Marshals Asset Forfeiture Division could be very possible not the one company that possesses bitcoin on behalf of the US authorities, whether or not for asset forfeiture typically or in mild of the SBR,” Thorn famous, referring to ongoing discussions a few potential Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Past the numbers, the implications for the broader market narrative are important. The belief that the US authorities held nearly 200,000 BTC has lengthy formed perceptions of an enormous beginning stash for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve below the Trump administration. If, because the FOIA response suggests, the federal government’s liquid Bitcoin stockpile is a fraction of these estimates, the perceived overhang could also be far much less materials than merchants believed. Vijay Boyapati captured this sentiment succinctly: “Unimaginable. The US authorities holds much less Bitcoin than a person who simply dumped 40,000 BTC in the previous couple of days. The concept of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is laughable when people personal extra Bitcoin than the US authorities.”
At press time, BTC traded at $118,279.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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