US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, marking a major step in US cryptocurrency policy. With this decision, the US will not sell the seized Bitcoins but use them as a store of value. Currently, the US government controls about 198,109 BTC, equivalent to $17.8 billion, most of which comes from asset seizures related to technology crimes.

The Origin of Bitcoin in the US Government

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the US is the country holding the most Bitcoin in the world, with a total value of nearly $18 billion. These BTC come mainly from major criminal cases, including:

Bitfinex (2016)

About 94,636 BTC in the current reserve belonged to the Bitfinex exchange, stolen in a 2016 hack. The investigation lasted until 2022 before US authorities recovered these Bitcoins from the mastermind Ilya Lichtenstein.

Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, successfully laundered 25,111 BTC before being arrested. By the end of 2024, Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in prison, while Morgan received an 18-month sentence. However, the remaining Bitcoins have not been completely seized and may be returned to Bitfinex in the future.

Silk Road Case (2020 - 2022)

The US government also seized more than 120,000 BTC related to the Silk Road black market, a dark web trading platform for illegal goods.

- November 2020: The US government seized 69,370 BTC from an individual known as "Individual X", who stole the BTC from Silk Road. When seized, the Bitcoin was worth $960 million, but by the end of 2024, the value had increased to more than $6.5 billion.

- November 2022: The US continued to seize 51,351 BTC from James Jimmy Zhong, who allegedly stole Bitcoin from Silk Road and hid it for more than a decade. The Bitcoin was found in a basement safe and a popcorn box in Zhong's bathroom closet.

The US Has Sold Large Amounts of Bitcoin in the Past

Before Trump established the Bitcoin Reserve, the US government liquidated confiscated Bitcoins several times, resulting in huge losses in value.

- Over the past decade, the US has sold about 195,000 BTC and earned $366 million. If it had kept these BTC, their current value would have exceeded $17 billion, or about 46 times more.

- March 14, 2023: The US sells 9,861 BTC from the James Zhong case, earning $215.7 million.

- January 2025: The US Department of Justice receives court approval to sell $6.5 billion in Bitcoin from Silk Road, but the Biden administration did not do so before Trump took office on January 20.

Bitcoin Reserve: A Long-Term Strategic Tool

President Trump’s new executive order requires the government to retain all seized Bitcoins instead of selling them on the market. According to Trump’s Crypto and AI Policy Advisor, David Sacks, the US will use this Bitcoin reserve as a store of value to maximize financial benefits.

The US Treasury and Commerce Departments are directed to develop a strategy to buy more Bitcoin without using taxpayer money. This shows that the Trump administration is considering Bitcoin as a strategic asset, similar to the gold in Fort Knox.

With the new policy, the US will not only become the country with the largest Bitcoin holdings in the world, but also play an important role in shaping the global cryptocurrency market in the future.