Trump Sell US BTC. As president, Donald Trump plans to make America the global leader in cryptocurrency. At his July 27 speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, the former president made these and other promises. Cryptocurrency proponents may have been confused by the Republican Party candidate’s remarks.
In his speech, Trump mostly praised Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency community as an asset to the United States. However, he did provide some details. One of his most important campaign pledges was that should he be reelected, the United States government would keep its present Bitcoin reserves.
Every Bitcoiner knows this rule by heart: never sell your Bitcoin. Trump said our government has ignored this basic rule for too long. Should I be elected, it will be the official policy of my administration to retain in perpetuity all Bitcoin that the United States government owns or acquires. Despite this, Casa CTO and co-founder Jameson Lopp claim that “there is a slight problem no one is acknowledging regarding the plan.”
Bitfinex Assets
As of April 2024, the US government supposedly possesses 212,847 Bitcoin. As of July 28, its overall worth was about $14.4 billion.
The Bitfinex bitcoin exchange is a source of part of those funds. In 2022, the US government confiscated around 94.636 BTC from wallets linked to hackers who confessed to stealing 119.754 BTC from the exchange in 2016. Trump Sell US BTC: Removing those coins from the government would leave the US with approximately $8 billion worth of Bitcoin in its coffers.
US Asset Forfeiture Laws
It is currently unknown how the US Justice Department plans to use the monies recovered from the Bitfinex breach. However, the investigation into the incident is expected to continue into 2024. Additionally, there is a shortage of legal precedent, which begs the question of how to proceed and leaves many unanswered. When investigations continue, the goal of making victims whole again is usually not prioritized by federal statutes about asset forfeiture.
It would be prosecutorially incorrect for the Justice Department to return part of the associated monies before taking any further action against other suspects if, for instance, the funds were tied to other assets that were supposedly related to other crimes.
Additionally, there are scenarios in which it may be unlawful for US agents to reimburse a single distributor for all stolen monies. A judge may potentially direct the United States to reimburse—impacted users for the stolen funds with the help of an impartial third party acting as a custodian.
Factor Impacting Law
This is just conjecture while the investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings continue. However, the law is not the only factor. Second, Trump has come clean about his plan to keep all of the government’s Bitcoin. However, the president may have only meant that he would not sell Bitcoin to convert the assets into fiat currency for personal gain quickly. If a judge ordered the government to refund the money, it would be doubtful that Trump would ignore the decision.
Finally, Trump has stated categorically that holding all of the US’s Bitcoin is going to be the “policy” of his government. Trump Sell US BTC: He’s bringing in the Bitfinex assets, which are given. Still, it also shows that the government is willing to bend Any policy restricting the selling of government-owned cryptocurrency, which would be different from a law or executive order outright banning such transactions.
Ulbricht Fund Recovery Unlikely
However, the situation is less complicated regarding Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. Drug trafficking, hacking, and money laundering were the accusations upon which Ulbricht was found guilty in 2015. Following this, he received a sentence of “double life” plus forty years in jail, which he now serves.
After a prior hack allegedly targeted Ulbricht and Silk Road, the US government confiscated 50,591 BTC in 2020. These assets would constitute about $3.4 billion of the US government’s present holdings as of July 28. In his Bitcoin 2024 speech, Trump pledged to commute Ulbricht’s sentence if re-elected.
Ulbricht’s conviction would remain in effect even after a commute. The money, designated as the profits of the crime, would be sent back to the United States government, and he would virtually be released after serving his sentence.
That differs from the pardon that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential contender, reportedly stated he would offer Ulbricht immediately upon taking office. Theoretically, a pardon that cleanses Ulbricht of his crimes would allow him to get his life back on track.
Ulbricht allegedly signed away his claim to the funds in 2022 as part of an agreement with the courts to clear his $183 million reparation bill. As a result, he probably has no future legal standing to claim the confiscated Bitcoin.
