The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly liquidated millions of dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) despite an executive order explicitly prohibiting such sales. This could be interpreted as a direct challenge to White House policy, as reflected in the report released on January 5, 2026.
The U.S. government would have sold $6.3 million worth of assets instead of including these funds as funds. Part of newly created Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund containing confiscated digital assets.
The funds in question come from Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, co-founders of the cryptocurrency mixing service Samourai Wallet. In August 2025, both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money transfer business. As revealed in a report by Bitcoin Magazine, as part of their agreement with law enforcement authorities, the developer couple transferred approximately 57.5 BTC to the United States Security Service (USMS) last November.
However, digital traces suggest that these coins were never stored. A document included in the report titled “Asset Liquidation Agreement” indicates that the fund was intended for sale.
data in chains Verify that your funds were sent to your wallet linked to Coinbase Prime. The balance is currently showing as zero, which suggests the following: liquidation will have already been carried out.
If the sale goes through, the move would put the Justice Department in an uncomfortable position vis-à-vis the executive branch. This is because President Trump signed Executive Order 14233 on March 6, 2025. As reported by CriptoNoticias, this measure is part of an economic policy pillar that stipulates that BTC acquired through criminal forfeiture “cannot be sold” and must be integrated into national strategic reserves as an asset with long-term value.
As stated in the Bitcoin Magazine report, there was no legal obligation to sell these assets. Under current forfeiture laws, the government has the power to preserve property in its original form. Deciding to cash out It appears that this was an administrative choice rather than a judicial order.
So far, neither the Justice Department nor the Security Service has released any public statements clarifying whether the move was an administrative error or a sign of internal resistance to the U.S.’s new digital asset policy.
However, a different perspective can be seen from the movement of funds. It may be a simple office-to-office paperwork and not a final sale on the market. Another blind spot is the nature of the seizure. Case documents suggest that prosecutors may have handled these funds as follows: Fine based on defendant’s confessionIt’s not a traditional confiscation. The legal ambiguity is detailed in the indictment, which reveals the fate of the assets.
The case takes on special relevance because of the independent history of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the prosecutor’s office that led the case against the samurai. The SDNY has shown remarkable autonomy thus far, proceeding with this process despite a Department of Justice memo issued in April 2025 suggesting a cessation of pursuit of crypto wallets and a commingling of services to end-user actions.