The US government is the owner of 194,188 Bitcoin (BTC) ($5.3 billion), obtained as a result of confiscation in a number of high-profile lawsuits. This is the lower end of the range of possible values, according to 21.co.

Analysts relied on publicly available information such as the completed cases regarding Silk Road (69,369 BTC) in November 2020, the Bitfinex exchange hack (94,643 BTC) in January 2022, and the theft of 51,326 BTC by hacker James Zhong in March of the same year.

The government is in no hurry to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat. The legal process from seizure to the final winding up order can take years. In some cases, this helped the government use the first cryptocurrencies.

Профессор компьютерных наук в Университете Карнеги-Меллон Николас Кристин пояснил изданию, что властям приходится проводить тщательную проверку, «зачастую возникает много бюрократических проволочек».