Key Takeaways
- The US Marshals Service missed a deadline to report back to Senator Cynthia Lummis on Bitcoin administration from the Silk Street case.
- Senator Lummis raised considerations over the deliberate sale of 69,370 Bitcoin, value about $7 billion, citing a possible 98% loss in worth.
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The US Marshals Service (USMS) missed a Friday deadline to offer detailed details about its dealing with of Bitcoin seized from the Silk Street case to Senator Cynthia Lummis, a improvement that sources with data of the matter had indicated.
Senator Lummis, in a letter to the USMS final month, raised considerations in regards to the company’s deliberate sale of roughly 69,370 seized Bitcoin, valued at about $7 billion on the present market worth. She cited potential monetary losses for taxpayers and a battle with the Trump administration’s coverage directives.
Lummis’ letter to USMS highlighted the company’s earlier Bitcoin gross sales, noting that disposals of 195,092 Bitcoin between 2014 and 2023 generated round $366 million. Those self same holdings can be value over $18.9 billion at present market costs, representing what Lummis referred to as a “staggering 98% loss in potential worth.”
The letter additionally famous a current court docket submitting the place the Division of Justice cited Bitcoin worth volatility to justify an expedited sale. She discovered the Division’s aggressive pursuit of liquidation, regardless of pending authorized challenges, troubling, particularly through the presidential transition interval.
The letter referred to as for higher transparency within the USMS’s administration of Bitcoin belongings, together with public disclosure of holdings. It additionally sought to carry the company accountable for previous losses and guarantee higher decision-making sooner or later.
On the time the letter was printed, there was a widespread expectation throughout the crypto group that Trump would challenge an govt order (EO) to ascertain a nationwide Bitcoin stockpile, a key promise from his presidential marketing campaign.
On Jan. 23, the President signed an EO directing a working group to evaluate the feasibility of making a nationwide digital asset stockpile.
Whereas the order doesn’t fulfill the precise promise of a devoted Bitcoin reserve, it leaves open the likelihood that Bitcoin may very well be a part of a stockpile whether it is established, which may doubtlessly embrace Bitcoin and different crypto belongings seized by federal authorities.
The USMS, which oversees digital belongings seized throughout legal investigations, manages an asset forfeiture program valued at roughly $7.6 billion as of September 2024.
Whereas the company missed the deadline, an individual accustomed to the matter mentioned it might transient Lummis and her employees in coming weeks and supply a listing of its Bitcoin holdings.
Senator Lummis has been appointed chair of the newly shaped Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Belongings. This subcommittee is the primary of its variety, devoted to overseeing digital belongings underneath the Senate Banking Committee, now led by Senator Tim Scott.
The subcommittee goals to cross bipartisan laws that establishes a complete authorized framework for digital belongings. This framework is meant to advertise accountable innovation whereas defending customers and consists of provisions for market construction, stablecoins, and a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Lummis briefly led an effort to create a US strategic Bitcoin reserve by means of proposed laws referred to as the BITCOIN Act, which might enable the federal government to amass a million Bitcoins, roughly 5% of the overall provide.
The invoice was lifeless as of January 3, 2025, but when she plans to reintroduce it in 2025, it may capitalize on assist from the newly elected crypto-friendly administration.
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