Author: Jessy, Golden Finance
On the morning of January 9, amid the market decline, major cryptocurrency media reported a bearish message, stating, "The U.S. Department of Justice approved the sale of $6.5 billion in seized Silk Road Bitcoins." As soon as this news came out, Bitcoin dropped below $94,000.
As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours, and there is constant wailing within the circle. However, after verifying this news, Golden Finance found that the credibility of the source was not high, and the reporter did not find official confirmation from the U.S. Department of Justice. Even if this news is true, based on past procedures for the Department of Justice selling seized Bitcoins, it would generally be unable to sell these Bitcoins in the short term before Trump took office, and Trump has made a commitment that during his presidency, the U.S. will not sell any Bitcoins.
In conclusion, the U.S. Department of Justice will not actually sell Bitcoins at this stage, and it will not bring selling pressure to the market.
There is only one source of information
According to various cryptocurrency media reports, it can be found that the linked sources are all messages posted by an individual blogger on X.
The subject of this account is a cryptocurrency news media outlet, but access to its website requires a subscription, and the membership fee is not low.
Based on the above information, Golden Finance reporters believe that the credibility of this media is not high, and the brief statement from its X account, "The U.S. Department of Justice approved the sale of $6.5 billion in seized Silk Road Bitcoins," does not specify a concrete source and cannot be verified.
Even if it is true, the Department of Justice cannot sell its Bitcoins in the short term.
Golden Finance reviewed the previous process of the U.S. Department of Justice selling its seized Bitcoins and found that even if this news is true, the Department of Justice would basically be unable to sell its Bitcoins before Trump took office.
The Bitcoins seized by the U.S. Department of Justice are generally auctioned by the U.S. Marshals Service, rather than being sold directly OTC or through exchanges. This is similar to how judicial departments auction off seized assets such as real estate for profit and then remit to the treasury.
Taking the 2020 U.S. Marshals auction process as an example, at that time about 4040 Bitcoins were auctioned, related to various federal criminal, civil, and administrative cases.
At that time, the news of the U.S. Marshals Service auctioning these Bitcoins was released on February 3, 2020, requiring potential bidders to complete their registration by February 12, with the auction taking place on February 18.
According to the specific sale terms published by the U.S. Marshals Service at that time, the winning bidder should prepare to wire the purchase funds to USMS on February 19, 2020; USMS will not transfer any Bitcoins until confirming receipt of the buyer's funds.
That is to say, from the release of the news to the actual auction, and the auctioneer actually receiving the Bitcoins, it may take more than half a month to reach the market for sale.
At present, there are only 11 days left until Trump takes office, and the Golden Finance reporter did not find any recent news about an auction of seized Bitcoins on the U.S. Marshals Service official website.
It can be seen that before Trump took office, at least the U.S. Department of Justice would not actually sell the Bitcoins seized from Silk Road.
In summary, the widely circulated news this morning, which affected the market, "The U.S. Department of Justice approved the sale of $6.5 billion in seized Silk Road Bitcoins," is likely to be false.
