Crypto funds seized by the government may go into a ‘digital Fort Knox’
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Summary
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a Bitcoin reserve, as well as a stockpile of other digital assets.
This reserve, to be managed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, will be used to hold assets gained through criminal or civil forfeitures, estimated at 200,000 Bitcoin, and the US will not sell any of the Bitcoin, but rather hold it as a store of value.
Currently, the government holds Bitcoin seized from the 2016 Bitfinex hack, in which 120,00 Bitcoin were stolen; it is unclear whether victims of this hack, and other hacks, will be reimbursed in actual Bitcoin or the equivalent value in cash at the time of the crime.
It is also stipulated that the government will not spend taxpayer money on acquiring more Bitcoin, but will explore cost-free methods of expanding the reserve.