US Govt Has More BTC Than Tesla And MicroStrategy Combined – Report
According to the latest Dune data, the US govt has become one of the biggest Bitcoin holders, surpassing Tesla and MicroStrategy, with about 205,000 BTC currently in its vault valued at nearly $5.8 billion. This figure is about 1% of the total Bitcoin circulating supply.
US Govt Seizes Thousands Of Bitcoin
Trackers indicate that MicroStrategy possesses 132,500 BTC, and the electric car giant has 10,725 BTC. But their combined BTC amount is less than the amount held by the US authority.
Before now, US authorities held 215,000 BTC. However, they sent Coinbase about 9,870 BTC earlier this month. Despite this transfer, the government still possesses a substantial collection of seized coins.
Notably, the US authorities seized most of the BTC from an individual tagged “Individual X.” The anonymous individual was linked with a theft on the Silk Road marketplace.
Meanwhile, blockchain analysis confirmed that the government’s crypto wallet, which received about 69,370 BTC, got them from this darknet marketplace. The US authorities seized these assets from “Individual X” in November 2020 after asking for forfeiture through the courts.
The individual forfeited all the assets as part of an agreement with the authorities. In another event, the US seized 94,636 BTC directly linked with the Bitfinex hack in 2016.
Law enforcement agencies accused the hackers of conspiring to launder about 119,754 BTC through multiple transactions spanning five years. According to the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), this was the highest amount of crypto seized, as the BTC was valued at over $4 billion.
Furthermore, the third instance concerns James Zhong, who unlawfully bought over 50,000 BTC from the Silk Road market again. The DoJ ordered a search of Zhong’s residence in Gainesville two years ago and seized about 51,326 BTC (approximately $3.36 billion) during their raid.
Authorities Move To Regulate The Crypto Space
Despite Bitcoin’s pseudonymous nature, malicious actors often exploit it for terrorist financing and money laundering. Besides, the government’s growing BTC holdings illustrate their success in combating these negative influences and offering relief for victims.
As cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin become increasingly mainstream, major banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are beginning to offer crypto trading options to their customers. However, the issue of fraud has become their major source of concern.
As a result, regulators and policymakers are developing regulations to streamline processes and protect investors from scams and hacks.
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