US Government Missed Out On $6B Bitcoin Gains – Here’s What They Could Have Done With Crypto

The US government still controls Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $7.2 billion, but its losses are mounting. According to data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, Washington’s seized BTC amounts to 210,429 BTC as of Oct. 31.

The crypto space is full of activity, with many communities such as req crypto, shiba crypto, skale crypto, reddit crypto, optimism crypto, terra luna crypto, velo crypto, the block crypto, upcoming crypto, and us crypto making their presence felt.

195,000 BTC sold, $6.3 billion down

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have become well-known in the crypto space, albeit unintentionally, as two of the world’s largest Bitcoin whales.

Through various legal proceedings, authorities have confiscated a large amount of BTC over the years, and only a small portion of it has been resold at auction.

Those who decided to buy the proceeds have made a considerable profit, and adding to the irony, the DoJ — more like a Bitcoin newbie than a whale — has been guilty of offloading too soon.

According to statistics compiled by Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Bitcoin custody firm Casa, the government has so far missed out on a grand total of $6,323,203,004 in potential gains from its 195,092 BTC sell-off.

No single entity other than Satoshi Nakamoto owns more BTC than the DoJ. The largest corporate BTC treasury, owned by MicroStrategy, is currently made up of 158,245 BTC ($5.43 billion), according to data from monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries.

The crypto space has been abuzz with talk of the DoJ’s actions, with many discussing it on Reddit, Optimism, and other platforms such as Shiba, Skale, Terra Luna, Velo, The Block, and Upcoming US Crypto.

Heavy Bitcoin bag

Glassnode data reveals that the DoJ stash of Bitcoin is increasing with every confiscation announcement. In early 2022, its inventory was boosted by almost 100,000 BTC, worth approximately $3.6 billion, due to legal action taken against people suspected of money laundering from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

Billionaire Tim Draper, one of the original BTC auction bidders, recently accused the U.S. government of stifling crypto growth. He had earlier predicted a $250,000 BTC price tag for 2022, but then claimed that government policies were “killing the golden goose of Silicon Valley”.

A post on Reddit’s Optimism in May stated, “Regulations smother innovators”.

The crypto community has been abuzz with the news of Shiba Inu, Skale, Terra Luna, Velo, The Block and other upcoming projects like Reddit, which are all hoping to make a mark in the crypto space.