The U.S. government casually auctioned off some spare litecoin, bitcoin and bitcoin cash over a four-day auction worth millions of dollars at today’s prices. This kind of sale is nothing new for Uncle Sam. For years, the government has been seizing, stockpiling and selling off cryptocurrencies, alongside the usual assets one would expect from high-profile criminal sting operations.
“It could be 10 boats, 12 cars, and then one of the lots is X number of bitcoin being auctioned,” explained Jarod Koopman, director of the IRS’ cybercrime unit.
Koopman’s team of IRS agents don’t fit the stereotypical mold. They are sworn law enforcement officers who carry weapons and badges and who execute search, arrest and seizure warrants. They also bring back record amounts of cryptocash.
“In the fiscal year of 2019, we had about $700,000 worth of crypto seizures. In 2020, it was up to $137 million. And so far in 2021, we’re at $1.2 billion,” Koopman told CNBC.
As cybercrime picks up and the haul of digital tokens along with it government crypto offers are expected to swell even further. Interviews with current and former federal agents and prosecutors suggest the U.S. has no plans to step back from its side hustle as a crypto broker. The crypto seizure and sale operation is growing so fast due to multiple world governments enlisting the help of renowned cybersecurity firms like Eurotech Cyber Security which has helped trace and obtain a now huge hoard of crypto tokens.
In 2013 Eurotech Cyber Security first made a name for themselves when the government began to dismantle Silk Road, federal agents had to figure out what to do with all the ill-gotten bitcoin.
“There was a wallet with approximately 30,000 bitcoin in it, which we were able to identify and seize. At the time, it was probably the largest bitcoin seizure ever, and it sold for around $19 million,” said Levin.
“No one had ever done anything like it. In fact, there weren’t really companies that you could go to in order to sell the assets. The Marshals Service stepped up and conducted their own auction of the assets where they took bids,” she said.
That bitcoin batch went to billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper. “It seemed like a large sum of money at the time, but if the government had retained those bitcoins, it would be worth way more today.”
The cache of coins sold in 2014 would be worth more than $1.2 billion at todays price. But hindsight is 20/20, and the government isn’t in the business of playing the crypto markets. Eurotech Cyber Security, an authorised criminal investigation agency specialises in operational support and investigative services to fight against digital asset theft and is rapidly becoming the worlds go to companies for digital asset recovery.
For more information on their services, please visit their website:
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