Confusion spread in the first week of 2026 after online reports claimed the U.S. government had quietly sold bitcoin linked to the Samourai Wallet case. Those claims triggered debate as a recent executive order restricted what agencies can do with forfeited bitcoin. Officials now say those reports were inaccurate.
Confusion spread in the first week of 2026 after online reports claimed the U.S. government had quietly sold bitcoin linked to the Samourai Wallet case. Those claims triggered debate as a recent executive order restricted what agencies can do with forfeited bitcoin. Officials now say those reports were inaccurate.
The discussion began after claims surfaced that U.S. authorities had sold itcoin forfeited by Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill as part of a plea agreement. The amount involved was estimated at around $6.3 million.
If true, such a sale would have conflicted with Executive Order 14233, which requires forfeited Bitcoin to be held by the government rather than liquidated.
Executive Order 14233 changed how the U.S. government treats Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture. Under the order:
This marked a shift away from the long-standing practice of routinely auctioning seized digital assets.
According to officials, no. After the claims gained traction, Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, He later confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice had verified the Bitcoin forfeited in the Samourai Wallet case was not liquidated and will not be sold.
Related:
Officials say the assets remain on the U.S. government’s balance sheet and will be retained under the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve framework. This applies even to the forfeited Bitcoin under federal laws related to an unlicensed money transmission business.
the forfeiture statutes used in the case place the bitcoin squarely within the executive order’s definition of “Government BTC.”
The clarification shows federal agencies are aligning more closely with the administration’s digital asset policy. It also highlights a broader shift in how bitcoin is viewed at the federal level, not as an asset to quickly sell, but as one to strategically hold.
Related:
