Bitcoin forfeited as part of Samourai case was not sold and will stay in the strategic reserve, says top White House crypto advisor
White House advisor Patrick Witt confirmed forfeited Samourai Wallet bitcoin will remain in the strategic reserve, not be liquidated.Summary
Patrick Witt, the White House's top crypto advisor and executive director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, confirmed that the digital assets forfeited from the Samourai Wallet developers have not been liquidated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and will remain on the USG balance sheet as part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
This confirmation followed a report suggesting the U.S. Marshall Service had sold over $6 million in bitcoin linked to the guilty pleas of developers William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez. Such a sale would have contradicted an executive order signed by President Trump in March, which established the strategic bitcoin reserve to hold forfeited assets as a store of value that cannot be sold.
Samourai Wallet developers Rodriguez and Hill were sentenced to five and four years in prison, respectively, for operating the bitcoin wallet service which included a crypto mixing feature used to launder funds.
(Source：The Block)