The executive branch has clarified that the Bitcoin (BTC) seized from the developers of Samourai Wallet has not been sold, a statement that comes in the wake of conflicting reports. Patrick Witt, the Executive Director of the President”s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, addressed the situation on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Witt”s comments follow earlier assertions by Cryptopolitan, which indicated that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) had liquidated approximately $6.3 million in BTC linked to the guilty pleas of Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and Will Lonergan Hill. On November 3 of the previous year, on-chain data showed a transfer of 57.55353033 BTC from a government-controlled address to a Coinbase Prime deposit address. This transfer raised eyebrows when the Coinbase address soon displayed a zero balance, leading many analysts to suspect that the seized assets had been converted to cash.
This speculation suggested a breach of Executive Order 14233, signed by President Trump in March 2025, which explicitly states that any “Government BTC” acquired through criminal or civil forfeiture “shall not be sold” and must instead be retained within the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
Witt reaffirmed the government”s position, stating, “We have received confirmation from the DOJ that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet have not been liquidated and will not be liquidated, per EO 14233. They will remain on the USG balance sheet as part of the SBR.”
The question remains whether the Southern District of New York (SDNY) will continue to operate contrary to the directives from the White House. Despite a memo from Todd Blanche in May 2025 advising the DOJ to pursue only cases with evidence of “knowing and willful” criminal actions by the developers, the SDNY succeeded in securing convictions against Roman Storm, a co-founder of Tornado Cash. In a trial held in August 2025, a jury found Storm guilty of conspiracy to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Rodriguez and Hill were sentenced to five and four years in prison, respectively, in November 2025.
Additionally, President Trump acknowledged in December last year that he is considering a pardon for Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Tim Scott, Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, faced challenges in moving forward with a significant hearing regarding the CLARITY Act after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed his withdrawal of support for the current draft. Armstrong voiced concerns that the legislation grants excessive authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. With Coinbase”s backing in question, the bipartisan consensus spearheaded by Senator Cynthia Lummis is showing signs of fragmentation. Nonetheless, Lummis has claimed that lawmakers are “closer than ever” to arriving at a final agreement.
The current draft of the CLARITY Act proposes regulations that would prohibit platforms like Coinbase from offering interest or rewards on stablecoins. This prohibition is viewed as a significant victory for traditional banking institutions, which argue that high returns on stablecoins are siphoning off trillions from their sector. Should these contentious issues remain unaddressed, the bill risks failure to pass before the 2026 election cycle, potentially stalling all legislative actions in the crypto domain.
