On March 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order officially establishing the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). According to this order, any Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings will be added to the reserve.

However, federal agencies must conduct a detailed audit to determine the exact amount of Bitcoin currently held by the US government.

November 2020: Silk Road Seizure (69,370 BTC)

On November 3, 2020, US authorities seized 69,370 BTC, marking the largest crypto seizure at the time, valued at $960 million.

The Bitcoin was confiscated from an unidentified hacker known as “Individual X”, who had stolen funds from the illicit online marketplace Silk Road. US officials traced these stolen Bitcoin through wallet addresses linked to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht before the platform was shut down in 2013.

In December 2024, a court rejected a motion to block the forfeiture of these Bitcoin, allowing the US Department of Justice to sell them. By that time, the value of 69,370 BTC had risen to $6.5 billion.

January 2022: Bitfinex Hack (94,636 BTC)

On January 31, 2022, US authorities seized 94,636 BTC from Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein, after accessing his cloud storage account, which contained a file with 2,000 crypto wallet addresses and corresponding private keys.

The seized Bitcoin accounted for approximately 80% of the 119,754 BTC that Lichtenstein had stolen from Bitfinex.

Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan managed to launder 25,111 BTC before authorities could intervene.

In late 2024, Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison, while Morgan received an 18-month sentence. However, experts have noted that the stolen Bitfinex funds were only seized, not forfeited. As a result, these funds could potentially be returned to Bitfinex.

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March 2022: Second Silk Road Seizure (51,351 BTC)

In March 2022, US authorities seized 51,351 BTC from James “Jimmy” Zhong, another hacker linked to Silk Road.

Four months later, US officials discovered the Bitcoin hidden in an underground floor safe and a popcorn tin stored in Zhong’s bathroom closet. At the time, the 51,351 BTC was valued at approximately $3.38 billion, making it one of the largest financial asset seizures in US history.

The US Has Started Selling Seized Bitcoin

On March 14, 2023, the US government sold 9,861 BTC for $215.7 million, all of which came from the Zhong forfeiture case.

Although additional sales of seized Bitcoin were expected to take place in four separate batches throughout 2023, these sales never materialized.

In January 2025, the Department of Justice received approval to sell 198,109 BTC seized from Silk Road. However, the Biden administration did not act on this before Trump‘s inauguration on January 20.

The US Plans to Expand Its Bitcoin Reserve

While the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve will initially be funded only with forfeited BTC, the White House announced that the Commerce and Treasury Secretaries will explore ways to acquire more Bitcoin without incurring costs for US taxpayers.

Moving forward, Bitcoin held in the reserve will no longer be sold. White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks criticized the previous US administration for liquidating seized Bitcoin, arguing that the new approach signals a long-term commitment to Bitcoin ownership.

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