Trump's campaign promise to use US government-held cryptocurrency to build a national Bitcoin reserve raises legal concerns

Trump's campaign promise to use the cryptocurrency held by the U.S. government to build a national Bitcoin reserve has raised concerns among former prosecutors. They say the move would transfer seized digital assets that could have been used to compensate crime victims. Experts say Trump's "never sell Bitcoin" philosophy violates a core principle of U.S. confiscation law: the government sells seized assets to repay crime victims and support law enforcement. Elizabeth Boison, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw confiscation matters for the Justice Department, said the proposed Bitcoin reserve is inconsistent with current law. The main purpose of asset confiscation is to deter and punish criminal activity by depriving criminals of property used or obtained through illegal conduct. Trump's proposal does not meet the purpose of asset confiscation or the current provisions of the law that allow for the confiscation of assets. Another former federal prosecutor, Laurel Loomis Rimon, added that the U.S. government can only recover assets after obtaining a final confiscation order from a judge. (Bloomberg)