US government misses bitcoin gains now totaling $6B
More than $7.2 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) is still under the control of the United States government – but the losses are mounting.
According to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, Washington's holdings of bitcoins totaled 210,429 BTC on October 31.
195,000 BTC sold, $6.3 billion down
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are well-known – perhaps coincidentally – for being one of the world's largest Bitcoin wells.
Legislators have confiscated vast amounts of BTC over the years through various legal processes, and only a small percentage of what they took has been resold at auction.
Those who chose to buy the currency made huge profits, and ironically, the DOJ — like Bitcoin's newbie whale — was found guilty of selling too soon.
According to statistics compiled by James Lopp, co-founder of Bitcoin watchdog Casa, the government has missed out on more than $6 billion from its potential sale of 195,092 BTC so far.
No entity other than Satoshi Nakamoto owns more BTC than the DOJ. The largest corporate BTC treasury, for example, owned by Microstrategy, currently holds 158,245 BTC ($5.43 billion).
A heavy bitcoin wallet
Glassnode shows the DOJ inventory growing in step with raid ads.
RELATED: Nearly 40M Bitcoin Addresses Are Now Live – A New Record
In the year At the beginning of 2022, the inventory increased by about 100,000 BTC – at the time at $3.6 billion – due to legal action against individuals accused of trying to steal funds from major crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016.
Meanwhile, billionaire Tim Draper, one of the first BTC bidders, recently accused the US government of stifling crypto growth.
Having previously predicted a 250,000 BTC price tag for 2022, Draper went on to say that policy failures are “killing Silicon Valley's golden goose.”
“Regulations stifle innovation,” says part of X's post from May.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
