On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed plans for the country’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), coinciding with a sharp decline in BTC and the overall cryptocurrency market. 

All Seized Bitcoin To Be Held In Strategic Reserve

In a discussion about the government’s approach to BTC and the recent seizures of the cryptocurrency, Bessent reassured the public that the administration would cease all sales of seized Bitcoin. 

Instead of auctioning off these assets, the government plans to add the seized Bitcoin to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which was set up in March last year by President Donald Trump’s administration. 

This decision, however, did little to mitigate BTC’s plummet on Tuesday, as the lack of any plans to purchase additional coins from the market contributed to continued downward pressure on prices. 

Bessent elaborated that the initiative is part of a broader strategy aimed at fostering digital asset innovation within the United States while maintaining federal oversight of confiscated cryptocurrencies. 

“This administration’s policy is to add seized Bitcoin to our digital asset reserve,” Bessent stated, marking a decisive shift in the government’s handling of Bitcoin assets.

Political Climate Leads To $215 Billion Crypto Market Dip

Bitcoin has experienced a decline of nearly $5,800—coinciding with political tensions after President Trump hinted at a 10% tariff on the European Union (EU) in an attempt to compel Denmark to sell Greenland. 

This geopolitical maneuver has not only affected Bitcoin but has also resulted in a staggering loss of approximately $215 billion in total market capitalization across the crypto sector.

Market analyst Ted Pillows warned that BTC must maintain its position above the $89,000 mark. He expressed that failing to hold this level would signal the end of the short-term upward trend, further complicating an already tumultuous condition for the cryptocurrency.

When writing, BTC still holds above the key level outlined by Pillows at $89,497, but has declined by 3.7% in the last 24 hours. 

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

Recent allegations regarding the Bitcoin (BTC) sale by the US Marshal Service (USMS) — operating under the Department of Justice (DOJ) — have been addressed by White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, who confirmed that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet and its founders have not been liquidated.

DOJ Confirms Samourai Bitcoin Will Not Be Sold

In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Witt clarified that the DOJ has verified that the digital assets taken from the Samourai Wallet will not be sold, in accordance with Executive Order 14233. He emphasized that these assets will remain on the government’s balance sheet as part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Earlier in the month, speculations suggested that the USMS, following directives from the DOJ, had sold approximately 57.55 Bitcoin forfeited in the Samourai Wallet case through Coinbase Prime on November 3, 2025. 

The lack of confirmation until now had led experts to assert that such actions would violate EO 14233, signed by President Donald Trump. This order mandates that Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture be retained and added to the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, rather than being sold off.

The Bitcoin in question is valued at almost $6.4 million and was seized from the creators of Samourai Wallet. According to US authorities, the cryptocurrency mixer facilitated over $237 million worth of illicit transactions. 

Samourai Wallet’s Co-Founders Face Justice

The DOJ had announced in November the sentencing of Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, the co-founders of Samourai Wallet. 

Rodriguez, the company’s CEO, and Hill, its Chief Technology Officer, were implicated in a conspiracy involving the operation of a money transmitting business that “knowingly” transmitted proceeds from criminal activities. 

The criminal proceeds laundered through their platform originated from various illegal activities, including drug trafficking, darknet marketplace operations, cyber intrusions, fraud, murder-for-hire schemes, and even a child pornography website. Rodriguez received a five-year prison sentence, while Hill was sentenced to four years.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $95,300, marking an almost 6% increase over the past seven days. However, it is still unable to regain the key $100,000 level, which has eluded the cryptocurrency since November last year. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

The White House is still treating a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as an active priority, even as officials work through what executive director of the White House Crypto Council Patrick Witt described as the legal and bureaucratic questions that sit beneath an idea that, on paper, sounds simple.

US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve On ‘Priority List’

In an interview recorded at the White House for the Jan. 13 episode of Crypto In America, Witt told host Eleanor Terrett that interagency talks on implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order are ongoing and that the effort remains on the administration’s “priority list,” as Congress simultaneously moves toward its next steps on crypto market structure legislation later this week.

Asked how the White House is thinking about the reserve “these days,” Witt pointed to a process being driven not only by crypto policy staff, but by the operations machinery tasked with pushing executive orders through the federal government.

“We’ve had good engagement from the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy team, which is Steven Miller’s team […] [to] make sure that all of the executive orders that have been signed by the president — that the agencies are moving out on them,” Witt said. “The treasury team, commerce team is involved. […] It seems straightforward, but then you get into some […] obscure legal provisions and why this agency can’t do it, but actually this agency could.”

Witt framed the current phase as less about whether the administration wants the reserve, and more about ensuring it can move in a way that will withstand scrutiny. “We’re continuing to push on that. It is certainly still on the priority list right now,” he said, adding that “Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel […] has provided some good guidance on where we can […] move out on this executive order […] and do so in a legally sound way.”

The remarks come against the backdrop of Trump’s March 2025 executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a broader “digital asset stockpile,” which directed the government to treat existing federally held bitcoin as a long-term reserve asset while agencies were tasked to research ways for budget-neutral acquisition.

Witt also addressed a separate flashpoint that has circulated in Bitcoin circles in recent days: speculation that the Department of Justice had sold bitcoin linked to the Samourai Wallet case, potentially conflicting with the administration’s reserve posture.

“I think it was somewhat misreported,” Witt said, referencing the settlement language and what he characterized as standard legal drafting. “If you look at the settlement agreement, the legal documents, it sounds like […] the agency is going to take a certain action. […] In talking with DOJ, it was basically written in such a way where they preserve all of their options and their rights in those agreements, but those bitcoins have not been liquidated. Those digital assets have not been sold.”

Witt’s bottom line for viewers was that the headline allegation, that DOJ had “outright violated” the executive order, “is not a concern,” though he stressed that he could not say more beyond that.

At press time, BTC traded at $95,078.