Senator Questions Reported Bitcoin Liquidation

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) is not happy. She raised concerns Monday after reports surfaced that the Justice Department may have sold Bitcoin (BTC) seized in a criminal case, despite a presidential directive to hold onto such assets for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Lummis was reacting to a Bitcoin Magazine report claiming the DOJ sold Bitcoin that had been confiscated from Samourai Wallet developers as part of their plea agreement. Her question was straightforward: Why is this happening when President Donald Trump issued an executive order last year requiring forfeited Bitcoin to be preserved in a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve?

"We can't afford to squander these strategic assets while other nations are accumulating bitcoin," Lummis said. "I'm deeply concerned about this report."

What Actually Happened?

Here's where things get interesting. According to the report, the U.S. Marshall Service—an agency within the Justice Department—may have sold approximately $6.3 million worth of BTC that was forfeited from Samourai co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, who were arrested and charged with money laundering and unlicensed money transmitting offenses in 2024.

On-chain data from analytics firm Arkham showed that 57.55 BTC moved from Samourai wallets to a Coinbase Prime Deposit address controlled by the U.S. government. The funds then transferred to another Coinbase Prime address that now shows a zero balance. Did that mean a sale happened? Not necessarily. The USMS hasn't confirmed anything yet.

America's Bitcoin Stash

The U.S. government currently holds 328,372 BTC valued at over $30 billion, according to Arkham data, making it one of the largest Bitcoin holders globally.

Trump's executive order established a National Bitcoin Reserve funded by forfeited assets, with instructions to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring more Bitcoin. Lummis has gone further, proposing legislation to purchase 1 million BTC over five years with a 20-year holding period, using budget-neutral approaches like Federal Reserve remittances and gold certificate revaluations.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $92,754.99, down 1.21% over the past 24 hours.