White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said he heard back from the Department of Justice regarding its case against Samourai developers William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez following a report that said bitcoin may have been sold.
Earlier this month, Bitcoin Magazine reported that the U.S. Marshall Service had sold over $6 million worth of bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill paid to the DOJ as part of their guilty plea.

We'd love your feedback.

Take a 30-second survey to help improve The Block.

U.S. prosecutors did not liquidate digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet developers, according to the White House's top crypto advisor — following a report that said bitcoin may have been sold, which would have gone against President Donald Trump's executive order.

In a post on X on Friday, executive director of the President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets Patrick Witt said he heard back from the Department of Justice regarding its case against Samourai developers William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez.

"UPDATE: we have received confirmation from DOJ that the digital assets forfeited by Samourai Wallet have not been liquidated and will not be liquidated, per EO 14233," Witt said in the post. "They will remain on the USG balance sheet as part of the SBR [strategic bitcoin reserve]."

Earlier this month, Bitcoin Magazine reported that the U.S. Marshall Service had sold over $6 million worth of bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill paid to the DOJ as part of their guilty plea, citing a court document and data that it was sent to a Coinbase Prime address to potentially be sold. If the bitcoin had been sold, that would be at odds with an executive order Trump signed in March to create a strategic bitcoin reserve.

The executive order says that bitcoin in the reserve will come from funds forfeited as part of a criminal or civil asset forfeiture, and that bitcoin deposited into the reserve cannot be sold.

"Government BTC deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve shall not be sold and shall be maintained as reserve assets of the United States utilized to meet governmental objectives in accordance with applicable law," according to the executive order.

In November, Samourai Wallet developer Rodriguez was sentenced to five years in prison for operating Samourai with a crypto mixing feature that helped launder millions of dollars. Hill, who served as chief technology officer, received four years.

Samourai Wallet was a bitcoin wallet that featured a crypto mixing service, which is used to obfuscate where a transaction is coming from.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

RATINGS

Best crypto cards with token rewards in 2026

See more ratings