U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis on Tuesday pushed again in opposition to reviews that the U.S. Division of Justice could have moved to promote Bitcoin, which some lawmakers had hoped can be held as nationwide property.
Based on on-chain monitoring and a number of information shops, roughly 57.55 BTC (roughly $6.3 million) was transferred to the Coinbase Prime account, after which the receiving pockets confirmed a zero steadiness, seemingly indicating that the cash had been liquidated.
Senator Lummis sounds the alarm
Primarily based on the report, Sen. Cynthia Lummis stated she was “deeply involved” that the transfer contradicts a beforehand issued presidential directive.
Govt Order 14233, signed in March 2025, establishes a plan to create a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and requires holding seized Bitcoins with out promoting them.
Lummis, who chairs the Senate Digital Belongings Subcommittee, questioned why the seized cash had been moved to an change custodial account as an alternative of being positioned in a reserve.
Why is the US authorities nonetheless liquidating Bitcoin? @POTUS Did we explicitly direct these property to be saved in strategic Bitcoin reserves? We can not afford to squander these strategic property whereas different nations accumulate Bitcoin. I’m very involved about this report. https://t.co/XW5WxsfliA
— Sen. Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) January 6, 2026
Transfer on-chain to level of sale
Blockchain analysts flagged the transfer after addresses related to the seizure had been tracked to Coinbase Prime. Based on the report, the Coinbase tackle ended up with a zero steadiness shortly after the switch, which many observers learn as an on-chain sign that the asset had been bought.
The switch included digital property seized from defendants in reference to current legal instances, and the U.S. Marshals Service executed a coin switch order from the Division of Justice, in line with the report.
Market response and numbers
There was a small market response when the sale was introduced. Bitcoin’s worth fell barely from round $94,760 at one level to just about $93,600, in line with a worth snapshot cited by the information web site.
Though the aforementioned variety of BTC is a small fraction of the overall circulating provide, this transaction attracted consideration because of the coverage points raised and the political context of the Nationwide Reserve Plan.
Questions on insurance coverage contracts and reserves
Lawmakers and crypto coverage watchers at the moment are demanding extra readability on when and the way seized cryptocurrencies will likely be transformed into money. The report asks the Division of Justice to elucidate its decision-making and make clear whether or not present government steerage requires it to carry seized bitcoins in strategic reserves.
Sen. Lummis is pushing for formal laws and laws to forestall related gross sales sooner or later.
Up to now, public statements from the Justice Division and the U.S. Marshals Service have been restricted to public data, however Lummis and different reservist supporters have referred to as for transparency.
Primarily based on media reviews, some authorized consultants argue that the federal government has discretion relating to confiscated property, whereas others argue {that a} new government order ought to restructure the apply.
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