A report in the United States of the Inspector General of the Treasury for the Fiscal Administration (Tigta) naked the negligence of the Internal Tax Service (IRS). With this, it is demonstrated that the agency fails in its duty to guard 8 billion dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies seized since 2017.
The findings show an operating chaos. This by agents that Three Wallet Hardware and destroyed, by mistake, a recovery phrase lost o Seed phrase, which forces a expensive fund transfer.
The report also reveals that agents omitted procedures, such as completing key documents for assets valued at almost 3 million dollars, preventing their tracking and verification.
On the other hand, the report It details that it falls into an alteration of evidence when Litecoin becomes Bitcoin without authorization, violating good asset preservation practices.
Additionally, it is shown that the tracking system is useless, since inventory software (AFTRAK) has incorrect data for 43% of assets, showing false locations and inconsistent amounts.
Procedure errors go beyond simple bureaucracy, because creates a tangible risk of loss, theft or poor asset management confiscated to money laundering networks and cybercriminals.
It is clear that each failure undermines the agency’s mission and sows doubts about its ability to handle the new era of finance. The report warns that without strict controls, Recovered assets could simply disappearweakening the fight against organized crime and eroding public trust.
The Fíat money bureaucracy in the face of Bitcoin’s custody
Justin Bechler, an active commentator in the Bitcoin community, He criticized hard The IRS deficiencies in the management of Bitcoin and other seized digital assets. He pointed out that the agency is a bureaucracy trained in Fíat money, and that, therefore, it is poorly equipped to handle a cryptographic monetary system such as Bitcoin, which requires competent custody and advanced technical skills due to its irreversible and carrier nature.
Bechler argues that the report shows the collapse of the traditional compliance infrastructure against digital monetary sovereignty. According to his vision, the IRS handles billions in volatile assets without technical capacity, clarity in audits or necessary operational safeguards, which increases the risk of theft, loss or manipulation of the funds held by the Government.
Before the disaster, Nancy A. Lamanna, who serves as an attached inspector for inspections and evaluations of the Tigta, launched several immediate compliance recommendations.
The IRS, under pressure, accepted most of the recommendations and announced an action plan to contain the crisis. In such a way that the agency promised to implement quarterly conciliations to force compliance with paperwork, and launch internal audits to verify the accuracy of the data.
The effectiveness of these measures will determine whether the government can recover control or if the assets will continue to escape through the cracks of a broken system.
This collapse of the IRS also dynamite the credibility of the executive order that President Donald Trump launched in March. That directive demanded that the Treasury Secretary Scott Besent, evaluate in just 60 days the creation of a strategic reserve and a digital asset deposit for the nation.
However, the auditor’s report spray that ambition, demonstrating that the government fails precisely in the basic custody and tracking tasks that Besent had to analyze.
The questions that are floating in the air are now: What happened to that evaluation? And how can the treasure project a national vault, if you don’t even manage to find the keys you already have?
