A new Bitcoin Magazine report raises fresh questions about how U.S. authorities handle seized crypto after revealing that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), part of the Department of Justice, appears to have moved — and may have already sold — Bitcoin forfeited by Samourai Wallet creators Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill. According to an “Asset Liquidation Agreement” obtained by Bitcoin Magazine, Rodriguez and Hill consented to relinquish roughly $6.3 million worth of BTC — a little over 57 bitcoin — under an agreement finalized on November 3, 2025. The documents indicate the forfeited BTC is either in the process of being sold or has already been liquidated. Notably, the transfer on November 3 did not appear to pass into direct USMS custody. Instead, the bitcoin seems to have been sent straight to Coinbase Prime, the institutional trading arm of Coinbase, which suggests the assets were routed for immediate sale rather than being held by the agency. That move could conflict with Executive Order 14233, which designates BTC seized through criminal forfeiture as “Government BTC” (a subset of “Government Digital Assets”) and directs that such assets should not be sold but instead allocated to a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The order further restricts agency heads from selling these assets except under narrowly defined conditions — none of which, according to the report, apply to the Rodriguez and Hill seizures. If the USMS did proceed with a sale, it would appear to have done so independently of that executive mandate. The episode highlights growing tensions over how government agencies should manage digital assets: immediate liquidation can maximize short-term recoveries, while reserving seized crypto for a strategic reserve aligns with policy goals of accumulating government-controlled BTC. Either path invites legal, ethical and policy scrutiny, and this case could prompt more debate or oversight over federal procedures for handling seized cryptocurrency. On the markets, BTC was trading nearer $94,300 at the time of reporting, up about 3% in 24 hours and roughly 8% over the past week. Image credit: DALL-E. Chart: TradingView.com. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news