FOIA reveals US Marshals sitting on at least $1.6B in BTC

The US Marshal’s Service holds at least $1.6 billion in bitcoin (BTC), according to documents obtained via a freedom of information request filed by pseudonymous journalist L0la L33tz.
The Rage reporter first shared her findings on X and has since revealed to Protos the full BTC holdings of the agency’s forfeiture department.
Various aspects of the holdings have been redacted from the report, including the case number, custody receipt and date, asset ID, and the amount of the BTC in question.
However, the document does include an unredacted number, which may imply that the agency holds approximately 28,988 BTC.
This would mean that the agency is valuing the coins it holds at an average price of $56,000, and suggests the total stash may actually be worth approximately $3.4 billion.
Read more: Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve audit is now five days overdue
Blockchain intelligence services like Arkham claim the US government holds over 198,000 BTC (worth $23.6 billion), which is significantly more than the documents suggest. However, L33tz’s FOIA request applied only to forfeited funds.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that required all federal government agencies to audit their crypto holdings by April 5 and send the results to the US Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent.
However, no such report has been released publicly.
The US Marshals Service is responsible for arresting fugitives, as well as keeping hold of any seized and forfeited criminal assets, and will likely be one of the federal agencies with the most crypto.
A source familiar with the matter told CoinDesk in February that the agency is unaware of how much crypto it holds and is even struggling to estimate its BTC holdings.
L33tz’s findings may also bag her $10,000 from David Bailey, the founder of the Nakamoto Bitcoin treasury company, who said he would send anyone the sum if they uncovered the Marshals Service’s holdings of BTC and crypto.
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