Patrick Witt confirms seized Samourai bitcoin wasn't sold and will stay in the Strategic Reserve, ending weeks of speculation.
US Gov Confirms: Samourai Bitcoin Stays in Reserve
Patrick Witt's clarification landed this week after two weeks of noise. The bitcoin seized from Samourai Wallet developers—roughly 57.5 BTC worth about $6.3 million—hasn't been sold. It won't be sold. It's going into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as outlined in Executive Order 14233, which Trump signed back in March 2025.
The confusion started when on-chain analysts spotted the bitcoin moving from a Samourai-linked address to Coinbase Prime in early November. Then the wallet showed a zero balance. To anyone watching the blockchain, that looks like liquidation. Custody transfers and sales produce identical transaction patterns. You can't distinguish one from the other without internal documentation.
Bitcoin Magazine ran with the story, citing an "Asset Liquidation Agreement" and suggesting the DOJ may have violated the executive order. The Marshals Service denied it. Witt, as Executive Director of the White House Digital Assets Advisory Committee, followed up with official confirmation from the Department of Justice.
What's quietly significant here is the policy shift underneath. Historically, forfeited crypto got auctioned fast. The government treated it like any other seized asset—convert to dollars, close the case, move on. EO 14233 flipped that. Now seized bitcoin is supposed to be retained as a strategic asset, not liquidated.
Whether that holds long-term depends on enforcement consistency across different federal districts. The Samourai case originated under the prior administration and was prosecuted by the Southern District of New York, which has shown little interest in aligning with more recent DOJ guidance on noncustodial tools. Deputy AG Todd Blanche issued a memo in April 2025 saying the DOJ would stop targeting mixers and wallets for user behavior. SDNY kept pushing the Samourai case anyway.
So Witt's statement isn't just about one wallet. It's about whether the reserve policy can override prosecutorial discretion at the district level. So far, it seems to be working—at least in this instance.
