Trump’s Plan for US Bitcoin Stockpile Alarms Forfeiture Experts

Donald Trump’s campaign promise to create a national Bitcoin stockpile with cryptocurrency held by the US government alarmed former prosecutors, who said it would divert seized digital assets that otherwise would be used to compensate victims of crime.

If he’s elected president, the US would keep all Bitcoin the government holds or will acquire, transforming “that vast wealth into a permanent national asset to benefit all Americans,” Trump said at the Bitcoin 2024 conference on July 27.

With this philosophy of “never sell your Bitcoin,” experts say Trump flouted a central tenet of US forfeiture law: The government sells ...