On-chain data has revealed that the United States government’s public wallets currently hold 198,109 Bitcoins, approximately $16.92 billion at the time of publication. Arkham Intelligence showed that the U.S. government had transferred ~222,684 BTC to Coinbase, Coinbase Prime, and other unknown wallets at an average price of $14,736.
The government transferred a total of $3.28 billion at the time, which is roughly $19.42 billion currently. The analytics firm indicated that the U.S. government had lost around $16.14 billion by selling Bitcoin prematurely.
Trump signs executive order to establish Bitcoin Reserve
Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and will not sell any Bitcoin deposited in the reserve.#USgovernment's public wallets currently hold 198,109 $BTC($16.92B).#USgovernment has transferred ~222,684 $BTC($3.28B at the time, $19.42B… pic.twitter.com/TdiEBmt7zX
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 7, 2025
The President signed an Executive Order on March 6 to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. virtual currency stockpile. Crypto Czar David Sacks highlighted that the reserve will only hold BTC forfeited to the Department of Treasury as part of criminal asset forfeiture proceedings. He also added that the reserve will not cost taxpayers a dime.
The order highlighted the strategic advantage of the U.S. being among the first nations to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve because of BTC’s fixed supply of 21 million coins. It also acknowledged that the state currently holds a significant amount of digital assets and has yet to maximize its strategic position as a unique store of value.
Sacks estimated that the U.S. government owned about 200,000 BTC but said that there had never been a complete audit. On-chain data from Arkham Intelligence showed that the U.S. government’s public wallets currently held 198,109 BTC ($16.92B). The analytic platform also indicated that the federal government owned around 56 Ether tokens worth $119 million. The American politician urged the E.O. to direct a full accounting of the federal government’s digital asset holdings.
“The U.S. will not sell any Bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the crypto currency often called ‘digital gold’.”
~ David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar.
Trump also established a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile that included virtual currencies other than BTC forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings. Sacks revealed that the purpose of the Stockpile was responsible stewardship of the government’s virtual assets under the Treasury Department.
Trump said the government will not acquire additional assets for the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile beyond those obtained through forfeiture proceedings. He also acknowledged that The Secretary of the Treasury may determine strategies for responsible stewardship, such as potential sales from the Stockpile.
Trump has been advocating for crypto saying “I am very positive and open minded to cryptocurrency companies, and all things related to this new and burgeoning industry.”
U.S. loses $16.14 billion through premature sale of digital assets
Sacks also estimated that premature sales of the digital currency already cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion in losses. On-chain data indicates that the U.S. government had lost roughly $16.14B from premature sales of Bitcoin.
LookOnChain revealed that the state’s public wallet had sold 222,684 BTC realized from seizures and criminal cases over the years. The government sold the stash at $3.38 billion, which was a substantial gain at the time, considering it spent nothing to acquire the digital assets. The firm highlighted that the sold virtual assets had appreciated to a market value of $19.42 billion as of the time of publication.
The U.S. official believes that the federal government will now have a strategy to maximize the value of its holdings. The White House revealed that the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce were authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin. The executive order stipulated that those strategies wouldn’t impose any incremental costs on American taxpayers.
Steven Lubka, head of private clients and family offices at Swan Bitcoin, said it was good news “but not what the market wanted in the short term. Lubka believes that people were hoping for near-term buy pressure.”
The crypto market plummeted when the U.S. announced no immediate planned purchases of BTC, as per the order. BTC fell by more than 5% to around $86,000 at 8:10 p.m. New York time Thursday.
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