The U.S. Marshals Service recently sparked controversy over a Bitcoin liquidation operation. According to reports, the Marshals liquidated approximately 57 BTC in early November this year, assets derived from confiscations of Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill. Both individuals agreed in their plea deals to deliver Bitcoin worth about $6.36 million to the U.S. government.

The troubling part is—an exclusive asset liquidation agreement document shows that these Bitcoins did not enter the Marshals' regular custody process but were instead directly transferred to a Prime service address of a certain compliant platform. Even more concerning is that the current balance of this address is zero, indicating that the assets may have already been cashed out.

This has raised suspicions among the public. According to Executive Order No. 14233 signed by the U.S. President, government-confiscated Bitcoin should be incorporated into the national strategic reserve. If these BTC were indeed liquidated, it could potentially violate relevant regulations. On-chain data can track the flow of assets, but the specific destination and use remain unclear at this time. What exactly is going on with this matter will likely require an official response.