US Marshals confirm near 29K BTC held by government in new FOIA disclosure
Key Takeaways
- A FOIA request confirms the US Marshals Service holds just under 29,000 BTC in forfeited assets.
- This figure is much smaller than previous estimates of 200,000 Bitcoin, which would be about $23.5 billion today.
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A newly released FOIA response shows the US government holds just 28,988 Bitcoin, worth around $3.3 billion, far less than the widely cited 200,000 BTC figure.
The data came from the US Marshals Service (USMS) in response to a March 24 request by independent journalist L0la L333tz. The agency, which manages forfeited digital assets, confirmed it holds just under 29,000 BTC.
That number is 86% lower than previous public estimates, which valued the government’s stash at over 23 billion dollars.
Assets tracked by tools like Arkham’s government wallet tracker often include seized BTC, such as coins from the Bitfinex hack, which may still be under litigation and not yet forfeited. This means the government cannot legally liquidate them without a forfeiture order in place.
The USMS list appears to include only assets officially forfeited to the government, excluding BTC still held by agencies like the FBI or DEA. Since the USMS conducts public auctions for liquidations, the list is presumed current and accurate.
A follow-up FOIA request is underway to verify whether Coinbase Prime is custoding the holdings.
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