{"id":13650,"date":"2025-10-17T14:13:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/some-estimate-the-u-s-government-now-holds-327000-bitcoins-is-this-evaluation-correct\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:13:22","slug":"some-estimate-the-u-s-government-now-holds-327000-bitcoins-is-this-evaluation-correct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/some-estimate-the-u-s-government-now-holds-327000-bitcoins-is-this-evaluation-correct\/","title":{"rendered":"Some estimate the U.S. government now holds 327,000 bitcoins. Is this evaluation correct?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">On Oct. 14, 2025, the Department of Justice reported that it had forfeited 127,271 bitcoins from a Cambodia-based scam operation. Soon after, some of the crypto influencers claimed that the U.S. is now holding 325,000 or 327,000 BTC. Are these claims grounded, and how can we estimate the U.S. Bitcoin holdings correctly?<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_97629deb6068c807241c7d00560df57f\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The U.S. government forfeited 127,271 bitcoins from Chen Zhi, the head of Prince Group, an international criminal organization based in Cambodia. According to the DOJ, it is the largest forfeiture action in the history of the Department.<\/li>\n<li>The DOJ press release cites Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying \u201cthe United States will use every tool at its disposal to defend victims, recover stolen assets.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Before the said forfeiture, the U.S.-held bitcoins were estimated by Arkham Intelligence at 198,000 based on the on-chain data.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The U.S. holds 325,000 or 327,000 bitcoins, popular accounts claim<\/h2>\n<p>As soon as the news about the forfeited bitcoins was released, several social media accounts with tens and hundreds of thousands of followers declared that the U.S. now holds 327,000 BTC. Some named a different estimation \u2013 325,000 BTC.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: WITH 327,000 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BITCOIN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">#BITCOIN<\/a>, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IS NOW THE 2nd LARGEST HOLDER IN THE WORLD <\/p>\n<p>THIS WILL ECHO GLOBALLY. HUGE \ud83d\ude80 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DRP5kCGpFk\">pic.twitter.com\/DRP5kCGpFk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pete_rizzo_\/status\/1978168219383787814?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>One of the X posts claiming that the U.S. government now holds 327,000 bitcoins was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jprichardson\/status\/1978587884836852133\" rel=\"nofollow\">shared<\/a> by the Exodus wallet CEO JP Richardson.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>In the posts and publications in media outlets, authors mostly were talking about the amount the U.S. \u201cholds,\u201d which is important as there is a difference between holding and owning funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Various publications reported that the U.S. has \u201cseized\u201d bitcoins from Chen Zhi. However, the press release from the Department of Justice uses a different term. The press release has no mention of \u201cseizure\u201d of bitcoins. Instead, it <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/chairman-prince-group-indicted-operating-cambodian-forced-labor-scam-compounds-engaged\" rel=\"nofollow\">mentions<\/a> \u201cforfeiture\u201d seven times.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These terms are not the same, as forfeiture supposes that a criminal\u2019s ownership of the forfeited assets is removed in favor of the government. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/leb.fbi.gov\/articles\/featured-articles\/asset-seizure-and-forfeiture-a-basic-guide\" rel=\"nofollow\">According<\/a> to the FBI guide,\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cForfeiture removes the profit motive from the crime and returns property obtained under fraudulent pretenses by the criminal to the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The press release contains the statement by Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. It says:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial fraud. By dismantling a criminal empire built on forced labor and deception, we are sending a clear message that the United States will use every tool at its disposal to defend victims, recover stolen assets, and bring to justice those who exploit the vulnerable for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It means that the Department of Justice may recommend returning these bitcoins to the victims of the crimes committed by Price Group. That\u2019s not something unthinkable. In 2024, the DOJ recommended returning around 94,643 BTC forfeited from the Bitfinex hackers to the exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will the U.S. return forfeited bitcoins to the victims?<\/h2>\n<p>Given that the U.S. still didn\u2019t return bitcoins to Bitfinex, there\u2019s still no precedent. With the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established by Donald Trump\u2019s executive order on March 6, 2025, the uncertainty only grows bigger. Trump\u2019s order prohibits selling BTC held by the U.S. government. However, it\u2019s unclear how it is possible to use bitcoins poised for the return as a strategic asset.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fact sheet accompanying Trump\u2019s executive order mentions the U.S.\u2019s \u201cownership\u201d of digital assets:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cTaking affirmative steps to centralize ownership, control, and management of these assets within the Federal government will ensure proper oversight, accurate tracking, and a cohesive approach to managing the government\u2019s cryptocurrency holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if such an approach supposes the return of the digital asset to the victims. However, the Attorney General\u2019s words concerning the recent forfeiture suggest that bitcoins can be returned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/file\/440746\/dl\" rel=\"nofollow\">claims<\/a> that the assets forfeited from criminals can be returned to the victims. It doesn\u2019t mean, however, that the government must do this.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How much BTC does the U.S. government hold?<\/h2>\n<p>Transparency is one of the crucial elements of the Bitcoin network. However, it cannot offset the lack of clarity in the law. Many of the U.S. BTC holdings estimations circulating online owe to Arkham Intelligence data. As of press time (Oct. 16, 2025), the U.S. Bitcoin holdings <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/intel.arkm.com\/explorer\/entity\/usg\" rel=\"nofollow\">amount<\/a> to 325,447 bitcoins, according to Arkham\u2019s estimation based on on-chain data.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 327,000 BTC evaluation doesn\u2019t seem to be correct. Those who claim the U.S. holds 327,000 bitcoins probably add 127,000 BTC to 200,000 BTC. The latter was the approximate amount of the U.S.-owned Bitcoin brought up by the Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks following the establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just a few minutes ago, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. <\/p>\n<p>The Reserve will be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. This means it\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David Sacks (@davidsacks47) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidsacks47\/status\/1897802280738734236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">March 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if the U.S. has ever made a thorough audit of its Bitcoin holdings. Trump\u2019s executive order stipulated that such an audit must take place; however, there is no publicly available info on the matter. All that we have is on-chain data.<\/p>\n<p>According to on-chain data, the U.S. holds 325,000 BTC. Over 94,000 BTC of this amount will probably be returned to Bitfinex. The future of the rest of these bitcoins is not clear yet, except for around 29,000 BTC held by the U.S. Marshals Service. These bitcoins are not likely to leave the government\u2019s custody.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Oct. 14, 2025, the Department of Justice reported that it had forfeited 127,271 bitcoins from a Cambodia-based scam operation. Soon after, some of the crypto influencers claimed that the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13652,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13650\/revisions\/13652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}