The United States government is seeking the forfeiture of 20.2 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth approximately $2.4 million — seized from the Chaos ransomware group, according to a civil complaint filed by the Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday.
The Dallas FBI conducted the seizure on April 15, alleging that the cryptocurrency was linked to unlawful activity, including ransomware operations. If the forfeiture is granted, the funds could be added to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve proposed under President Donald Trump’s March 6 executive order, which allows Bitcoin seized in criminal or civil asset forfeiture cases to be held by the federal government.
The filing was made in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and aims to legally transfer ownership of the funds to the U.S. government.
Discrepancies in Bitcoin holdings
Estimates from analytics firms Arkham, Nansen, and BitcoinTreasuries.NET suggest that the U.S. government holds at least 198,012 BTC, accumulated through years of asset seizures by law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and DEA.
However, these figures were recently challenged by an independent journalist known as L0la L33tz. In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) disclosed that it holds just 28,988 BTC — a figure that does not include Bitcoin held by other agencies like the FBI, DOJ, or DEA.
In a post on X (formerly ,L0la noted that Bitcoin in the custody of seizing agencies may still be under litigation or pending forfeiture, meaning they cannot yet be sold or counted as official government holdings.
“These do not seem to be BTC that have been made the government’s property — at least not exclusively — which means they can’t sell them,” L0la said.
Arkham: No recent sales by the U.S. government
On July 23, Arkham Intelligence confirmed that none of the U.S. government-linked Bitcoin wallets it tracks have moved any BTC in the past four months. The firm reiterated that different arms of the federal government — including the FBI, DOJ, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices — hold Bitcoin across various addresses.
The discussion underscores an important distinction between seized and forfeited Bitcoin, the latter being legally owned by the state and eligible for inclusion in reserves or auction sales.
The federal move follows a wave of similar legislative initiatives at the state level. According to BitcoinLaws, at least 30 U.S. states have proposed legislation to create Bitcoin strategic reserves. However, only Arizona, Texas, and New Hampshire have successfully passed such laws as of July 29.
Most proposals have failed in committee stages or been voted down by state legislatures.