Trump vows not to sell US government Bitcoin! Is it really that simple?

This site (120bTC.coM): At 4 o'clock on Sunday, Beijing time, US presidential candidate Trump officially took to the main stage of the Bitcoin Conference Bitcoin 2024 and expressed his views on encryption in front of many Bitcoin supporters. One of the highlights of the currency industry’s political views is that Trump said: If elected as president, he would never sell Bitcoin owned by the U.S. government.

“The federal government owns nearly 210,000 Bitcoins, or 1% of the total supply. But for too long, our government has violated a basic principle that every Bitcoin enthusiast knows: HODL..Never sell your of Bitcoin. As the final part of my plan today, I’m announcing that if elected, my administration’s policy will be for the United States to retain 100% of all Bitcoin currently held or acquired in the future… This will in effect serve as a strategic national Bitcoin The core of the reserve. "

The US government has more than 200,000 Bitcoins

According to Bitcoin Treasures data, the US government currently holds more than 200,000 Bitcoins, mainly between November 2020 and 2022, just three Seized from cybercriminals and darknet markets in different law enforcement operations. Currently it is mainly stored in offline cold wallets controlled by the U.S. Department of Justice, IRS or other agencies.

• In November 2020, 69,369 BTC was confiscated from Silk Road, the largest black market on the dark web. Zhong confiscated – 51,326 BTC, the US government still holds 41,500 BTC of this part

• How the US government handles these Bitcoins has long been a topic of concern in the market, because any sell-off may affect the price of the currency, last year 2 In March, the U.S. government sold 9,861 Bitcoins once owned by Silk Road on Coinbase. In February this year, the U.S. government transferred 15,085 BTC confiscated in the Bitfinex hack case, possibly in preparation for the auction.

94,000 BTC confiscated from Bitfinex hackers

• Although Trump said he would not sell Bitcoin, even if he is the president, he still cannot directly change the judicial verdict. The current investigation into the Bitfinex exchange hack is still ongoing, and typically in such cases, federal law does not prioritize victims being compensated.

However, if the case proceeds smoothly, the judge may order the Ministry of Justice to return the stolen funds to the affected users under the supervision of a neutral third party in the future. Therefore, what Trump said about "retaining all government-held Bitcoins" is more likely to refer to the Bitcoins that were eventually confiscated. He will not sell them and cash them into legal tender, but the exact amount is still unknown.

Silk Road founder agrees to give up Bitcoin ownership

Another 69,000 Bitcoins for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht may be much simpler. Ross Ulbricht founded Silk Road in 2011. The platform was filled with illegal goods and earned him a fortune of US$1.2 billion in just two years.

Ross Ulbricht was eventually arrested in October 2013, sentenced to life in prison in 2015, without parole for 40 years, and ordered to pay $183 million in compensation.

In February 2021, Ross Ulbricht has agreed that the 69,370 Bitcoins stolen by the Silk Road hackers seized by the authorities will be auctioned by the US government to repay the US$183 million in compensation he owes the US government, which may make him No legal claims can be made against the seized Bitcoins.

On the other hand, Trump also promised in his speech at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference that if elected, he would commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht. Claiming he had received enough punishment.

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