Recent reports suggest that the US government finally has custody of 69,370 Bitcoins, worth $4.38 billion, seized from the Silk Road dark web marketplace. This has got many crypto enthusiasts to question what if the US government triggers a sell-off similar to Germany’s this year in July. Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff teases MicroStrategy chairman Michael Saylor to raise another $4 billion debt to buy these Bitcoins.
Will Michael Saylor Buy 69,370 Bitcoins?
Currently, the U.S. government now holds 203,239 BTC, worth $12.63 billion as per the Arkham Intelligence data. Thus, selling 69,370 Bitcoins means selling nearly one-third of its holdings. Due to the legal battle, the 69,370 BTC remained untouched in wallet ‘bc1qa5’ for the past four years. Speaking on the development, Peter Schiff chimed in teasing MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor to raise another $4 billion to buy the US government Bitcoins. Schiff wrote:
“It looks like the U.S. government is getting ready to sell 69,370 Bitcoin, worth about $4.3 billion at current market prices. Every once in a while, the government does something smart. I think Michael Saylor should have MSTR borrow another $4.3 billion and buy it. Who agrees with me?”
MicroStrategy has been raising debt periodically through stock sales as MSTR outperforms Bitcoin this year in 2024. Saylor has yet to respond to Peter Shiff’s comments. The company’s Bitcoin acquisition strategy has delivered solid returns as it sits on $15 billion in digital cash at the moment.
5 years ago @MicroStrategy had $500M in cash.
Today they hold over $15B in Bitcoin, digital cash.
And their stock is up 1200% with no signs of slowing down.
5 years from today, a Bitcoin treasury strategy will be the norm.@saylor is leading the way. pic.twitter.com/vyD9nhnJSe
— Mason Carter (@onchaincowboy) October 7, 2024
Earlier this week on October 7, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Battle Born Investments’ case, granting the full control of the seized BTC from the Silk Road marketplace to the US government.
Battle Born Investments has claimed the rights to the seized BTC via a bankruptcy estate. However, following the US Supreme Court’s decision in the case, the US government can now proceed with the proceeds of its Bitcoin holdings. It will be interesting to see whether Michael Saylor pulls of another feather from his cap to buy these BTC in the event of a sell-off.
Earlier this year in July, the US government moved $2 billion worth of BTC linked to its Silk Road seizure. Another such move from the government could send ripples across the crypto market triggering a BTC price dip further to $50,000. Following the German government selloff in July, the market reacted quite negatively.
Will the US Government Sell Before Elections?
Apart from the macro developments, the US jobs data, and the upcoming US CPI numbers, Bitcoin and altcoins will largely react to the upcoming US election developments as the odds of leads are swinging wildly between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Thus, the current US government is unlikely to pull off a stunt at this point by selling the BTC and upset crypto voters. Besides, it will show Kamala Harris in a bad light as she’s been working on a crypto reset policy for a while.
On the other hand, Donald Trump has shown interest in making Bitcoin a strategic reserve if elected to power. He has vowed to make America the crypto capital of the world.
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