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U.S. DOJ may be liquidating Silk Road $BTC, Bitcoin Magazine CEO suggests Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey stated on X that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may be swiftly liquidating the Bitcoin (BTC) it seized from dark web marketplace Silk Road following court approval granted three months ago. He speculated that if the DOJ is proceeding with the sales despite U.S. President Donald Trump's supportive stance on BTC, this could partly account for the recent decline in BTC's price.

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, utilizing tokens the government already owned. The move ignited debate within the crypto industry, especially because Trump expanded the reserve beyond Bitcoin to include a selection of altcoins. Industry leaders quickly voiced their views on the cryptocurrency reserve, drawing attention to a key area of the Bitcoin market: national governments. The move re-emphasized the fact that some governments hold Bitcoin through outright purchases, seizures, or other means. Here are the top countries with national Bitcoin portfolios in 2025, detailing how they came to acquire their BTC holdings and future plans to increase them. We also note nations currently undecided on the future of their cryptocurrency custody. The US government possesses 207,189 Bitcoins as of early 2025. Significantly, most of this volume originates from law enforcement seizures with well-documented sources. The largest seizure by the US government came from the 2016 Bitfinex hack. US law enforcement recovered 94,643 BTC from Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. These seized assets remain in government custody and will form part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Beyond the 2016 Bitfinex hack, the US Justice Department seized 69,370 BTC from a wallet linked to the Silk Road dark web marketplace in 2020. Other Bitcoin seizures contributing to the US Bitcoin holdings include an additional 12,267 BTC seized from Bitfinex, 9,800 BTC confiscated from James Zhong, another Silk Road-related figure, and another 2,818 BTC linked to a Bitfinex hack. These seizures, alongside other smaller confiscations, comprise the 207,189 Bitcoins the US government held in early 2025. Related: Donald Trump Makes It Official: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Altcoin Stockpile Is Law Like the US, China holds a sizable amount of Bitcoin. Though the Asian nation has never disclosed its Bitcoin holdings, it is known to have seized nearly 195,000 BTC from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme in 2020. Importantly, the Chinese government transferred the coins to the national treasury in 2023 but has not clarified whether it sold them. However, most crypto analysts believe China did not sell the Bitcoin and may opt to create a Bitcoin reserve down the line. Related: China Mulls Strategic Bitcoin Reserve? Policy Shift Speculation Shakes Crypto Market The UK has followed China and the US in acquiring Bitcoins through confiscation. However, the volume of Bitcoins seized by the UK is considerably less than that of the US and China. Analysis of the UK’s Bitcoin holdings shows the European nation held only 61,245 BTC. Law enforcement agencies were primarily responsible for the UK’s Bitcoin acquisition. For the UK, the main focus was money laundering. Therefore, the government’s focus in that area led to the Bitcoin seizure. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine prompted the latter to seek donations through alternative transaction protocols. The Ukrainian government accepts donations in Bitcoin chiefly to fund its defense and humanitarian initiatives stemming from the current conflict. The total number of Bitcoins that the Ukrainian government possessed as of the first quarter of 2025 was 46,351 BTC. That volume positions Ukraine as the fourth-largest government to hold Bitcoin as of early 2025. The Kingdom of Bhutan is known for engaging in cryptocurrency mining, part of a wider strategy to pursue digital assets. The nation’s Bitcoin reserve contains about 13,029 BTC, making it the fifth-largest government-owned Bitcoin reserve. Bhutan started mining Bitcoin in 2019 but did so quietly, remaining unnoticed by many industry analysts until years later. The country’s Bitcoin reserve represents nearly 30% of its GDP, with reports indicating that the state-owned Druk Holding & Investments (DHI) mines between one and five Bitcoins daily. It is worth noting that Bhutan adopted a Bitcoin program as an alternative revenue source to support its primary industry, tourism. The government increased its efforts in Bitcoin mining after the near collapse of the tourism industry during the pandemic. Since then, crypto mining has become a major income source for the Himalayan nation. El Salvador adopted a Bitcoin law in September 2021, becoming the first country to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender. The South American country, under President Nayib Bukele, implemented the Bitcoin project to promote financial inclusion, create jobs, and facilitate remittances. Bukele has guided El Salvador into a Bitcoin stockpile program, with the country engaging in outright BTC purchases. As of 20 25, El Salvador owned about 6,105 BTC, making it the sixth-largest nation to hold Bitcoin in reserve. Notably, the South American nation proceeded with its Bitcoin program despite pushback from high-end institutions, including the IMF. Disclaimer: The information presented in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. The article does not constitute financial advice or advice of any kind. Coin Edition is not responsible for any losses incurred as a result of the utilization of content, products, or services mentioned. Readers are advised to exercise caution before taking any action related to the company.

Elliptic’s data revealed Garantex executed over $60 billion in transactions since the U.S. and EU imposed sanctions in April 2022 allegedly for laundering funds tied to ransomware, darknet markets, and North Korean cyberattacks. Despite efforts to mask its wallet infrastructure, Elliptic’s report claims Garantex’s total transactions exceeded $96 billion, including moves by Russian elites to evade sanctions after the Ukraine invasion. The blockchain surveillance firm explained that the crypto exchange employed advanced cloaking techniques to evade detection, such as rapidly generating new wallet addresses and leveraging specific privacy tools. Elliptic developed proprietary analytics to identify Garantex-controlled wallets, uncovering transactions predominantly in the stablecoin USDT issued on the Tron blockchain. This methodology, Elliptic contends, enabled real-time sanctions screening for clients and investigators. Garantex purportedly laundered crypto from high-profile crimes, including $30 million from North Korea’s Lazarus Group-linked Horizon Bridge hack and funds tied to ransomware groups Conti, Lockbit, and Black Basta. It also reportedly facilitated tens of millions in darknet market deals, according to Elliptic’s tracing tools. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) cited Elliptic’s intelligence in its indictment, which highlighted Garantex’s role in aiding Russian oligarchs and illicit actors. The takedown follows recent incidents like the $1.4 billion Bybit theft, underscoring rogue exchanges’ role in global crime financing. Elliptic emphasized the technological arms race between bad actors and compliance firms, noting other sanctioned entities now mimic Garantex’s tactics. Its tools, the company asserted, remain integrated into crypto businesses’ compliance programs to flag illicit transactions. Elliptic’s news follows Tether freezing millions of USDT held on Garantex, the exchange halting operations, and the U.S. government seizing its website. 免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。

U.S. and allies shut down Garantex crypto exchange domains Law enforcement in the U.S., Germany and Finland seized domains linked to sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, citing its role in money laundering. The United States Department of Justice also charged two…

Federal authorities are working to return over $8.2 million in seized cryptocurrency to victims of an investment fraud scheme that targeted individuals across multiple states. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio has filed a civil complaint seeking forfeiture of 8,207,578 tether (USDT), which was recovered through an FBI investigation into fraudulent schemes. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) explained in a Feb. 28 announcement that, according to court documents: The FBI has identified 33 victims of an investment fraud scheme across the country … In total, victims lost approximately $4.9 million. “Five more accounts have also been found to be affected and the FBI is attempting to identify the respective owners. The victims associated with the additional accounts have lost approximately $1,071,086,” the DOJ added. Investigators determined that scammers initially gained victims’ trust through deceptive text messages before persuading them to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms. One of the victims, a woman from Lake County, Ohio, lost her entire life savings of $663,352 after being manipulated by a scammer posing as a friend. She was guided to open a cryptocurrency account on Crypto.com and was convinced to transfer funds to what she believed was a legitimate investment platform. When she attempted to withdraw her money, she was met with fabricated tax demands and threats against her family. After realizing the scam, she reported the fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, prompting an investigation by the FBI’s Cleveland Division. Blockchain analysis traced portions of the stolen funds to three cryptocurrency addresses, leading federal authorities to seize the USDT tokens in November 2024. The funds were transferred to a law enforcement-controlled wallet with the assistance of Tether Limited. Through the forfeiture complaint filed on Feb. 27, the U.S. government seeks legal authority to redistribute the seized cryptocurrency to the victims. The DOJ noted: If successful in this forfeiture action, the United States would seek to return the stolen funds to the victims. The complaint asserts that additional funds held in the fraudulent accounts were proceeds of financial crimes and should also be forfeited. While the claims in the complaint must still be proven in court, the Justice Department stressed that the ultimate goal of the action is to return the stolen assets to those who were defrauded. 免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。