Despite their colossal crackdown on US crypto traders and firms, it has been revealed that the United States government is the largest Bitcoin holder in the country. New data showed that the government has more Bitcoin than MicroStrategy and Tesla combined. These two companies were known as the largest holders of Bitcoin before the latest data. This is a huge irony considering the fact that the government, with the help of commissions such as the SEC, has tried to exterminate many top firms in the country. Firms like Kraken, Coinbase, and Crypto.com have been in constant legal battles with government commissions.
The data showed that the Bitcoin held by the US government was almost two times bigger than MicroStrategy Bitcoin. With over 205,000 BTC in its possession, the US government has a little over 1% of the current circulating supply of Bitcoin in its reserves. In addition, the present worth of the Bitcoin in possession of the US government is around $5,734,743,113 at spot rates.
The majority of the Bitcoin Were Seized
According to data provided by Dune, all the Bitcoin that is in possession of the US government was seized from different cases. In their report, the Dune revealed that the US government initially held about 215,000 Bitcoin but later transferred about 9,860 BTC to Coinbase in early March 2023. Despite this huge number of Bitcoin sent to Coinbase, the US government is still the largest Bitcoin holder.
Part of the Dune report read, "The U.S. Government has seized at least 215k BTC since 2020, making it one of the largest BTC whales. On March 9, 2023, 49k BTC associated with US government law enforcement seizures were on the move, with ~9.86k sent to a Coinbase address."
Compared to other US crypto traders such as MicroStrategy and Tesla, what the US government holds is close to two times what individual firms have. MicroStrategy Bitcoin stands at 132,500 BTC, while Tesla owns 10,725 BTC. Tesla purchased most of their Bitcoin during the Covid-19 pandemic when it started accepting payment for its products with cryptocurrency.
The US government's seizure of most of these Bitcoin happened in different cases. The first seizure occurred when the government seized about 69,369 BTC from a person they tagged "Individual X."
This anonymous person was linked to the Silk Road marketplace. According to the Dune, they could get the information they presented through a thorough blockchain analysis. More reports showed that the seizure happened on November 3, 2020, after the individual involved in the case had pleaded the forfeiture of the Bitcoins in a law court. It is unclear where the trial occurred or the parties' names in the case.
The second seizure happened when the US government got its hands on 94,636 BTC directly linked to the 2016 hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. The US government arrested those involved in the case, such as Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan. The third seizure case involved a man named James Zhong, and the US government went ahead to seize 51,326 BTC.