Peter Schiff Teases Michael Saylor to Acquire $4.38B in Seized BTC from U.S. Government

In a surprising turn, Gold bug and Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff has suggested that Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, should consider purchasing the United States government’s Bitcoin reserve of 69,370 BTC ($4.3 billion), which was seized from the Silk Road dark web marketplace.

Schiff believes that the U.S. government is preparing to offload the seized crypto assets.

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 @saylor should have $MSTR borrow another $4.3 billion and buy it. Who agrees with me?

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 8, 2024

U.S. Government to Sell $4.3B in Bitcoin?

Schiff’s statement comes after the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review a case concerning the ownership of the seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web marketplace. The firm argued it had acquired rights to the cryptocurrency through a bankruptcy estate, but its claims were ultimately rejected.

The ruling allows the U.S. government to retain full control over the Bitcoin stash, which had been claimed by Battle Born Investments. With this, the government is now positioned to sell the Bitcoin assets.

According to Arkham Intelligence, the U.S. government currently possesses 203,239 BTC, worth about $12.63 billion. Selling the 69,370 BTC would represent nearly one-third of its total holdings. These seized assets have remained untouched in the wallet labeled ‘bc1qa5’ for the last four years due to the legal proceedings surrounding their ownership.

In his comments on the situation, Schiff remarked that the government’s actions reflect an unusual instance of “smart” decision-making. He urged MicroStrategy to borrow money to acquire the seized Bitcoin.

U.S. to Retain Bitcoin Under Trump

Interestingly, Schiff’s comments follow a significant Bitcoin transfer by the U.S. government. Two months ago, the government moved 29,800 Bitcoin, worth $2 billion, to a wallet linked to its Silk Road Seizure.

The transfer occurred shortly after the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, made commitments at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, where he assured attendees that, if elected, the U.S. government would not sell its Bitcoin assets.

Schiff suggested that with the government already transferring substantial amounts of Bitcoin, Trump’s pledges may lose relevance by the time he could potentially take office.

As the government navigates its cryptocurrency portfolio, Senator Cynthia Lummis has proposed legislation aimed at designating Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the United States. The legislation seeks to acquire 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply and classify it as a treasury asset.