Main to remember
- US Marshals Service has missed a deadline to report to senator Cynthia Lummis on Bitcoin management since the Silk Road affair.
- Senator Lummis has raised concerns about the expected sale of 69,370 bitcoin, worth around 7 billion dollars, citing a potential loss of value of 98%.
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The US Marshals Service (USMS) missed a deadline on Friday to provide detailed information on its Bitcoin seized processing of the Silk Road case to senator Cynthia Lummis, a development that the sources knowing the case had indicated.
Senator Lummis, in a letter to the USMS last month, raised concerns about the planned sale of the agency of around 69,370 bitcoins seized, worth around $ 7 billion at the current price market. It has cited potential financial losses for taxpayers and a conflict with the political directives of the Trump administration.
The Lummis letter to the USMS underlined the agency’s previous sales of Bitcoin sales, noting that the 195,092 Bitcoin provisions between 2014 and 2023 generated around $ 366 million. These same assets were worth more than $ 18.9 billion at current market prices, which represents what Lummis called a “amazing loss of 98% of potential value”.
The letter also noted a recent legal file where the Ministry of Justice has cited the volatility of Bitcoin prices to justify an accelerated sale. She found the aggressive pursuit of the department of liquidation, despite the legal, disturbing legal challenges, in particular during the presidential transition period.
The letter required greater transparency in the management of Bitcoin assets by the USMS, including the public disclosure of assets. He also sought to hold the agency responsible for past losses and to ensure better decision -making in the future.
As the letter was published, there was a general expectation in the cryptographic community that Trump issued an executive decree (EO) to establish a stock of national bitcoin, a key promise of his presidential campaign.
On January 23, the president signed an EO leading a working group to assess the feasibility of creating a stock of national digital assets.
Although the order does not hold the specific promise of a dedicated bitcoin reserve, it leaves open the possibility that bitcoin can be part of a stock if it is established, which could potentially include bitcoin and others Cryptographic active ingredients seized by the federal authorities.
The USMS, which oversees digital assets seized during criminal surveys, manages an asset confiscation program valued at around $ 7.6 billion in September 2024.
Although the agency has missed the deadline, a person familiar with the case said they would inform Lummis and its staff in the coming weeks and would provide an inventory of its Bitcoin holdings.
Senator Lummis has been appointed president of the new Senate banks subcommittee on digital assets. This subcommittee is the first of its kind, dedicated to the supervision of digital assets of the senatorial banking committee, now led by Senator Tim Scott.
The subcommittee aims to adopt bipartite legislation which establishes a complete legal framework for digital assets. This framework is intended to promote responsible innovation while protecting consumers and includes provisions for market structure, stablecoins and a strategic bitcoin reserve.
Lummis briefly directed an effort to create an American Bitcoin Reserve of Strategic Bitcoin through proposed legislation called Bitcoin Act, which would allow the government to acquire a million bitcoins, around 5% of the total supply.
The bill had died since January 3, 2025, but if it plans to reintroduce it in 2025, it could capitalize on the support of the newly elected cryptographic administration.
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