The figure of 200,000 BTC, disseminated by various sources, was never verified by the government.
Senator Cynthia Lummis claimed to be alarmed at the filtered reserves of being true.
An alleged document of the United States Sheriff Service (USMS) filtered by the press has caused shock in the Bitcoiner community. This suggests that the Government currently has only 28,988 BTC, which would be equivalent to just 15% of holdings that estimated unofficial sources.
The report indicates that current state reserves would be valued at approximately 3,440 million dollars (USD). In contrast, Previous estimates pointed to the United States had about 200,000 BTCa figure that was never confirmed by an official audit.
This information came to light following a reward of USD 10,000 offered by David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, in March who provided data on Bitcoin’s holdings of the USMS.
This is a sum that term paying Bitcoin on Wednesday to the independent journalist of anonymous identity Lola Leetz for publicly sharing captures of the trial document that says he sent the agency on Tuesday before his consultation by mail, as seen below.
The reaction did not wait. Republican senator Cynthia Lummis express His concerns in a publication: “If this is true, it is a total strategic error and leaves the United States years in the race for Bitcoin.”
It should be remembered that, in March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the creation of a Bitcoin reserve (BTC). The document instructed federal agencies to acquire BTC through fiscally neutral mechanismswithout using public funds, and asked each entity to inform their seized holdings of illegal cases within the following 30 days.
As Cryptonotics reported, that period expired at the beginning of April without an official report having been publicly disseminated.
In this context, Senator Lummis had requested an investigation to determine how many Bitcoin really possesses the government and in which entities are stored. He also questioned why the information required by the executive order signed in March has not yet been made public.
The lack of transparency has been criticized both in social networks and in Congress. “Where are Bitcoin’s holdings of the Government?” It has been the doubt that generated the situation.
Although, this was even seen even with positive eyes by some actors in the ecosystem, since it could promote the government to acquire BTC. “If Biden sold all our bitcoin when he left the door, Trump will buy them again 2 times more,” commented Bailey considering that this would be “mega bullish.”
However, it is necessary to clarify a key point described By Leetz: the difference between seized assets and confiscated assets.
As explained, the US Sheriff Service mainly manages confiscated active, that is, those that are already owned by the government. On the other hand, the seized assets, which have not yet been legally transferred, could be in custody of other agencies such as DEA or the FBI.
This implies that there could be more BTC in possession of other federal entitiesin addition to those that the USMS would have. Leetz also pointed out that on-chain research platforms such as Arkham, which track wallets associated with the government, could be including seized assets, such as the 94,000 BTC of the Bitfinex case.
According to data Of the Bitcoin Treasuries Research Platform, in line with Arkham, the United States currently has 198,012 BTC. It is followed by China, with 190,000 BTC, and the United Kingdom, with 61,245 BTC.
From cryptonotic, we got in touch with the sheriff service to confirm the amount of BTC in their possession and consult where the rest is, something we will report if we get an answer.
