The previous US s-service (USMS) seems to carry a small holding of 29,000 bitcoins, a lot decrease than the over 200,000 BTC, which many thought was detained by the federal government.

The up to date figures confirmed by the Freedom of Info Act (FOIA) request by impartial Crypto journalist L0LA L33TZ on July 16, totaling the federal government whole of 28,988 BTC as of March 2025.

At present costs, the stash is value round $3.4 billion. That is in stark distinction to the $23.5 billion estimates from blockchain analytics platforms comparable to Arkham Intelligence and Bitcoin Treasuries.

The contradiction has sparked hypothesis throughout the crypto house, with some observers questioning whether or not the US is quietly promoting Bitcoin Holdings.

(Editor’s observe: Provided that President Trump introduced that Bitcoin seizures will turn out to be a part of the strategic Bitcoin reserve earlier this 12 months, it’s also attainable that Bitcoin is not underneath the custody of the previous US S.

Does the US promote Bitcoin?

Bitcoin Journal CEO David Bailey recommended that the US is prone to promote a big portion of its BTC reserves earlier than President Donald Trump sworn in January. He identified that the dearth of seen on-chain exercise might show nothing as a consequence of custody involvement.

He mentioned:

“I feel it is essential that they promote it with out creating an Onchain footprint.”

Sani, a Bitcoin analyst who tracks suspected addresses linked to US authorities wallets, has not confirmed any current transactions from these addresses.

Nevertheless, he identified that conventional blockchain tracing might not make clear authorities actions if custodians like Coinbase are selling off-chain swap.

Sani added:

“It might not matter anymore, together with what’s actually happening, all of the on-chain monitoring we have been doing, mine.”

Senator Cynthia Ramis, a nationwide Bitcoin Reserve Voice Advocate, responded with concern in regards to the growth. She mentioned:

“If that is the case, this can be a full strategic blunder and we’re again the US with the Bitcoin race.”

Seized vs. Bitcoin

L33TZ has revealed that the FOIA request will solely cowl “forfeitured” Bitcoin property which were legally transferred to authorities possession.

She mentioned many property, comparable to ongoing investigations and people tied to hacks like Bitfinex, will not be but authorities property and will reside in different federal companies such because the DEA and the FBI.

She highlighted that platforms like Arkham might misrepresent the whole by combining crushed and confiscated cash. L33TZ identified:

“For instance, Arkham lists 94K BTC from Bitfinex Hack, however forfeiture of Bitfinex circumstances has not been determined at the very least after we checked it final time.”

Blockchain safety skilled Taylor Monaghan identified that authorized custody is just not similar to possession, and offered additional clarification.

She famous that in lots of circumstances, the cash seized remained the property of the victims and would by no means turn out to be property of the US authorities.

Monaghan highlighted ongoing authorized proceedings, from citizen confiscation to IEEPA, and decided the destiny of the seized property.

She cited a number of examples, together with circumstances by which the FBI holds $40 million within the code at present linked to the August 2024 theft, however these cash are anticipated to be returned to their respectable homeowners underneath the phrases of the judicial contract.

With this in thoughts, Monster Hunter states:

“Normally, cash seized by the USG won’t turn out to be USG’s property. They are going to be returned to hacked or fraudulent victims.”

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