The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to gain ownership of up to $15 billion worth of BTC, which it seized from a crypto fraud scheme. This would boost the U.S. government’s Bitcoin reserves and comes amid the push to establish the Strategic BTC reserve.
DOJ Files BTC Forfeiture Order Which Could Boost U.S. Bitcoin Reserves
In a press release, the Department of Justice announced that it filed a civil forfeiture complaint against almost 127,271 BTC, worth nearly $15 billion, which are part of the “proceeds and instrumentalities” of a “pig butchering” scam. The DOJ further revealed that these funds are currently in the U.S. government’s custody.
Meanwhile, they also noted that this marks the largest forfeiture action in the DOJ’s history. The DOJ seized these funds from Chen Zhi, also known as “Vincent,” the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group (Prince Group), who they have charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
This forfeiture action could eventually boost the U.S. Bitcoin reserves if the court grants a forfeiture order. U.S. President Donald Trump has already signed an executive order proposing that the U.S. use confiscated assets to form a Strategic BTC reserve.
BitcoinTreasuries data shows that the U.S. currently holds 198,021 BTC, which are mainly from seizures. As such, a forfeiture order for this $15 billion means that the government could eventually hold up to 325,292 BTC ($36 billion) in its reserves.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had confirmed in August that the U.S. Bitcoin reserves were worth up to $20 billion. This followed earlier speculations that the U.S. had sold most of its BTC holdings.
Meanwhile, this move would also expand the U.S. lead over other countries in terms of Bitcoin holdings. The U.S. government holds the most BTC among government entities, ahead of second-placed China, which has 190,000 BTC.
A BTC Reserve Is The ‘Wisest Thing’ To Do
Notably, this development comes amid the push to pass the BUTCOIN Act, which will codify Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin reserve order. Senator Cynthia Lummis, who introduced the bill, today noted that BTC’s uniqueness is one of the reasons the reserve is the “wisest thing” to do to shore up the dollar.
This followed Elon Musk’s endorsement of Bitcoin, in which he noted that Bitcoin is based on energy, as anyone can issue fake fiat currency, but that it is impossible to fake energy. Lummis agreed with Musk and stated that the BTC reserve will help secure their debts with a hard asset.
She added that they can also audit it to prove the Bitcoin reserves at any time and that, given its scarcity, they can use it in 20 years to retire a meaningful percentage of the U.S. debt.
Source: https://coingape.com/doj-files-15b-btc-forfeiture-order-potentially-boosting-u-s-bitcoin-reserves/
