According to breaking news, US Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors sold $6.3 million worth of Bitcoin seized from Samourai Wallet in violation of a Trump executive order, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
According to a report published by Bitcoin Magazine, the Bitcoins that Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill handed over to the DOJ as part of the charges were allegedly liquidated by the US Marshals Service (USMS). This sale is said to violate Executive Order 14233 (EO 14233).
EO 14233 prohibits the sale of Bitcoins seized by the US government through criminal or legal proceedings and mandates that these assets be held under the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). However, according to reports, the Bitcoins seized in the Samourai Wallet case were instead put up for sale instead of being held under this reserve.
According to an previously undisclosed document titled “Asset Liquidation Agreement,” obtained by Bitcoin Magazine, the defendants agreed to transfer Bitcoin worth a total of $6,367,139.69, equivalent to 57.55 BTC at the time, to the USMS. The document was signed by Assistant US Attorney Cecilia Vogel on November 3, 2025.
According to on-chain data, these Bitcoins were sent to an address associated with Coinbase Prime, rather than being held directly in the USMS wallet. The fact that this address has a zero balance strengthens the possibility that the Bitcoins may have already been sold.
According to the legal assessment in the news report, the Bitcoins of the Samourai developers are among the assets seized under 18 U.S. Code § 982(a)(1). However, neither this provision nor any other relevant federal regulations require the seized digital assets to be converted into cash. On the contrary, EO 14233 mandates that such “Government BTC” assets be held without being sold.
The Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office (SDNY), which is handling the case, has previously been criticized for taking steps that contradict the federal government’s crypto policy. The article argues that the SDNY’s continuation of the investigation into Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, in addition to the Samourai Wallet case, is an indication of this independent stance.
Despite a directive issued on April 7, 2025, by then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, stating that “regulation through prosecution would end,” the SDNY reportedly did not back down in these cases.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, the sale of Bitcoins seized in the Samourai Wallet case contradicts the clear provisions of EO 14233 and reveals that some within the DOJ continue to view Bitcoin as something to be “disposed of” rather than a strategic asset.
*This is not investment advice.
