Courtesy of Arkham IntelligenceIn late January, Arkham Intelligence posted that: Criminals have stolen over $20 million in USD Coin, Tether, aUSDC, and Ethereum from wallets owned by the US government. We believe it is being laundered through some of the most suspicious addresses tied to the money laundering service.The US is a major holder of crypto relative to its population, largely thanks to seizures from law enforcement. In 2013, the Silk Road seizure alone accounted for nearly 174,000 bitcoin, a large portion of the government’s holdings today. Meanwhile, the US frequently auctions off most of its seized crypto. As the auctioneer, the US Office of the U S Marshal Service manages most of this crypto.
Government policies regarding crypto seizures have been revealed by policymakers and blockchain analytics firms that track suspected government-linked crypto wallets. At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, former President Donald Trump announced a commitment to hold all crypto seized by his administration, presumably also for any future crypto acquisitions and seizures. This plan failed when the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal to determine ownership of $4.3 billion of bitcoin seized from the Silk Road, leaving that bitcoin to be sold by the current administration.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
