Some doubt the U.S. government actually holds the 198,012 BTC reported by blockchain trackers like Arkham Intelligence. Their skepticism stems from an independent journalist, known as @L0laL33tz on X, who published the story with The Rage, revealing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) response that details the USMS’s bitcoin holdings.
Source: @L0laL33tz via X.
“In March, we filed a FOIA request for the amount of bitcoin held by the US Marshal Service,” L0laL33tz explains in the report. “Today, we publish the USMS answer to our FOIA request, as well as the list of bitcoin it holds, totaling 28,988.35643016 BTC.”
Historically, the USMS has been the primary agency responsible for managing and auctioning seized cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin (BTC), on behalf of various federal agencies like the FBI, IRS, and Department of Justice (DOJ). However, this lower figure suggests that the USMS does not hold the entirety of the government’s bitcoin stash.
Source: @L0laL33tz published on The Rage.
L0laL33tz also reached out to Bitcoin Magazine’s boss, David Bailey, who offered “$10,000 to the first journalist who can get U.S. Marshals to confirm the quantity of bitcoin and crypto they’re currently holding.” The journalist wrote, “Hey @DavidFBailey, man of your word, looks like you owe me $10,000.” David Bailey’s response questioned whether that was the full asset list, suggesting the Marshals might no longer hold the bitcoin.
He asked for the source and requested the file. He also asked for a bitcoin address, saying if everything checks out, he would send the BTC later that day. Another person weighed in, saying, “Arkham tracks the wallets onchain, so I don’t know why you amplify these conspiracies.” Bailey responded, “Because that doesn’t account for a custodian making intraledger transactions.”
Source: Arkham Intelligence’s flagged U.S. government wallets.
Various federal agencies, including the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Attorney’s Office, seize bitcoin in connection with criminal activities such as the Silk Road case, Bitfinex hack, and other cybercrime investigations. These agencies transfer seized assets to the USMS for custody and eventual liquidation, but some assets may remain under agency control pending legal proceedings or forfeiture judgments.
Moreover, the U.S. government has contracted third-party custodians, such as Coinbase and Anchorage Digital, to manage seized cryptocurrencies. For example, the USMS partnered with Coinbase in 2024 to custody large-cap digital assets, and Anchorage Digital was appointed as a custodian in 2021. These custodians may hold bitcoin on behalf of various agencies, which may account for some of the bitcoin not reflected in the USMS’s 28,988 BTC.
The reality is, without a transparent, blockchain-verified audit from the government, no one can be certain it owns all the BTC claimed on treasury websites and in reports. A proof-of-reserves would offer the public clearer confidence, especially with the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) executive order launched by President Donald Trump this year. The absence of centralized transparency and the challenge of coordinating seized assets across various agencies only deepen these discrepancies.
Adding to the confusion, Coindesk reported in February that the USMS cannot precisely state how much BTC it controls. “As far as I’m aware, the USMS is currently managing this with individual keystrokes in an Excel spreadsheet,” Chip Borman, vice president of capture strategy and proposals at Addx Corporation, told the news outlet. “They’re one bad day away from a billion-dollar mistake,” he warned.
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