The U.S. Marshall Service (USMS) has reportedly sold approximately $6.3 million worth of bitcoin, forfeited by Samourai Wallet developers Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill as part of their guilty plea to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This action potentially contravenes Executive Order (EO) 14233, an directive mandating that bitcoin acquired through criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings should be retained as a component of the United States’ Strategy Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). If the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the federal judicial district overseeing the Samourai case, is indeed found to have violated EO 14233, it would underscore a recurring pattern of the SDNY acting in defiance of federal government directives.

Details emerging from an “Asset Liquidation Agreement,” exclusively obtained by Bitcoin Magazine and previously unreleased, indicate that the bitcoin forfeited by Rodriguez and Hill was earmarked for sale or has already been liquidated. The document specifies that the defendants agreed to transfer bitcoin valued at $6,367,139.69, amounting to 57.55353033 bitcoin at the time the agreement was finalized by Assistant United States Attorney Cecilia Vogel on November 3, 2025. This bitcoin, dispatched from address bc1q4pntkz06z7xxvdcers09cyjqz5gf8ut4pua22r on the same date, appears to have circumvented direct custody by the USMS. Instead, it seems to have been directed to Coinbase Prime address 3Lz5ULL7nG7vv6nwc8kNnbjDmSnawKS3n8, an address attributed to the brokerage by Arkham Intel, presumably for immediate sale. The current zero balance of this Coinbase Prime address strongly suggests that the bitcoin has already been sold.

The alleged sale directly challenges EO 14233, which explicitly states that "Government BTC," defined as bitcoin acquired by the U.S. government via criminal forfeiture, "shall not be sold" and instead must be contributed to the U.S. SBR. Should the USMS have proceeded with the sale, it would imply a discretionary action rather than one mandated by law. This decision could signal that certain factions within the DOJ continue to perceive bitcoin as a volatile or "taboo" asset to be divested promptly, rather than a strategic holding as directed by President Trump. Given that the Samourai prosecution commenced under a previous administration known for its stringent stance against noncustodial crypto tools and their developers, the decision to disregard EO 14233 and liquidate the bitcoin aligns with a historical tendency to remove bitcoin from government balance sheets without delay.

Legal sources familiar with the matter confirm that the Samourai developers forfeited their bitcoin under 18 U.S. Code § 982(a)(1), which mandates forfeiture for offenses violating 18 U.S. Code § 1960 (prohibiting unlicensed money transmitting businesses). This statute, incorporating 21 U.S.C. § 853(c), a criminal forfeiture statute, clearly defines such property as "Government BTC" under the EO. Crucially, neither § 982 nor § 853 stipulates that criminally forfeited property must be liquidated. Furthermore, fund forfeiture statutes cited in the EO (31 U.S.C. § 9705 and 28 U.S.C. § 524(c)) govern the deposit and use of forfeiture proceeds, but they do not compel the conversion of forfeited bitcoin into cash. The EO further categorizes "Government BTC" under "Government Digital Assets" and explicitly forbids agencies from selling or disposing of them, except in specific, limited scenarios not applicable to the Rodriguez or Hill cases, and always requiring the U.S. Attorney General's involvement in such determinations.

Considering the directives of EO 14233 and the relevant statutes, the SDNY's actions appear to defy the EO's mandate to transfer criminally forfeited bitcoin to the U.S. SBR. This is not an isolated incident for the SDNY, which has cultivated a reputation for operating with a degree of independence and unilaterally, earning it the colloquial moniker "Sovereign District of New York." Further evidence of this pattern includes the SDNY’s decision to proceed with cases against Rodriguez and Hill, as well as against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. These actions seemingly ignored a memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 7, 2025, titled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution,” which stated that the Department of Justice would cease targeting virtual currency exchanges, mixing services, and offline wallets for the actions of their end users. Moreover, the prosecution continued even after a Brady request revealed that two high-ranking officials from FinCEN had "strongly suggested" that Samourai Wallet did not function as a money transmitter due to its noncustodial nature.

Within the federal court system, over 90% of defendants face conviction and sentencing, with acquittals being exceptionally rare. The SDNY’s prosecution record is known for an even higher success rate. Keonne Rodriguez, aware of these statistics and Judge Denise Cote’s reputation for severe sentencing, made the decision to plead guilty to the charge of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter business. He conveyed these concerns prior to his plea.

These developments have prompted many Bitcoin and crypto proponents, including those who supported President Trump in 2024, to question the genuine commitment to ending the "war on crypto." For such an end to materialize, the DOJ under President Trump must rigorously adhere to the mandates of EO 14233 and follow Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s guidance on prosecuting developers of noncustodial crypto technology. In a promising sign, President Trump recently stated he is considering a pardon for Rodriguez. Should he pardon Rodriguez and initiate a DOJ inquiry into the sale of the bitcoin forfeited by the Samourai developers, it would send a powerful signal affirming his serious pro-Bitcoin and pro-crypto stance.