Feds Set to Spill the Beans on Crypto Holdings, But Will the Public Get the Scoop?

Hang onto your hats, crypto fans! The U.S. government is about to drop some serious intel on their digital asset stash, straight to the Treasury's doorstep. This bombshell comes courtesy of a presidential executive order that's got everyone buzzing.

Word on the street, courtesy of a White House insider, is that these reports are due by Monday. That's right, the clock is ticking, and the feds better have their ducks in a row.

But here's the kicker: while they've gotta spill to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, there's no guarantee Joe Public will get a peek at the goods. Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett spilled the tea, saying, "Unclear as of now if and when the findings could be made public."

The crypto community is up in arms, calling out the government for keeping their holdings under wraps. "Why the secrecy?" they're asking. "They work for us, so why not share the wealth?" Some are even calling it "shady" – and you know what? They might have a point.

Let's not forget what Trump's AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks dropped on a podcast last month. He revealed that the U.S. once had a whopping 400,000 BTC in their pocket, but they sold nearly half for a measly $366 million. Sacks pointed out that if they'd held onto those coins, they'd be sitting on a cool $17 billion right now. Talk about a missed opportunity!

According to the latest data from Arkham Intelligence on April 7, the U.S. government is currently holding onto about 198,000 BTC, worth around $15 billion. And that's not all – they've got another $380 million in other cryptos like ETH, WBTC, and BNB. Cha-ching!

This whole shebang started with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on March 6. It's calling for a full-blown audit of federal crypto assets and the creation of two new powerhouses: a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.

The Bitcoin Reserve, dubbed a "digital Fort Knox," is set to be the ultimate long-term storage for seized BTC. No more auctioning off those confiscated tokens – they're going straight into the vault.

On the flip side, the Digital Asset Stockpile is all about flexibility. It's where they'll stash non-Bitcoin assets like ETH, BNB, or TRX, ready to be sold, swapped, or used however the government sees fit.

Sacks spilled that the reserve would be filled with crypto the government has already seized through civil and criminal forfeitures. At the time, he estimated the U.S. was holding around 200,000 BTC, but without a full audit, who knows what the real number is?

While all this is going down, federal agencies haven't stopped seizing illicit crypto. Just last month, the Department of Justice nabbed over $200,000 in digital assets linked to Hamas, part of a terror financing network that's moved more than $1.5 million through exchanges and wallets since October 2024.

But sometimes, seized assets directly tied to victim losses can be returned. On March 3, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Ohio announced they were going to forfeit around $8.2 million in USDT tied to a crypto investment scam and give it back to the victims. Now that's what I call justice!