Peter Schiff Says UK's Plan to Sell $6.7 Billion In Seized Bitcoin Could Help Budget — Warns US Against Buying It For Strategic Reserve

Benzinga
21 Jul

Economist Peter Schiff on Sunday called the UK’s purported plan to sell almost $6.70 billion in stolen Bitcoin BTC/USD a “right” approach to address their budget deficit.

What Happened: Schiff took to X to comment on The Telegraph’s report that UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering selling the BTC stash recovered by police to help close a fiscal gap.

“For once, the Brits might actually get something right,” the Bitcoin skeptic said.

Schiff used the opportunity to poke fun at Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor, suggesting that his firm, Strategy Inc. MSTR, might become the buyer.

“I hope the U.S. doesn't buy it for the Strategic Reserve,” he added.

See Also: $1 Billion Bitcoin Transfer Triggers Massive Liquidations — This Is Where It Was Offloaded

Why It Matters: The Bitcoin in question, amounting to 61,000 BTC, was confiscated in 2018 from a Chinese Ponzi scheme.

The report added that the Home Office is developing a "cryptocurrency storage and realization framework" to manage and liquidate the holdings, with a tender offering up to £40 million, worth $53.68 million, in commission.

The anticipated sell-off comes amid a major cryptocurrency market rally that has pushed Bitcoin to historic highs of over $123,000.

Interestingly, confusion prevailed last week over reports suggesting that the U.S. government offloaded over 80% of its Bitcoin reserves, leaving just around 29,000 BTC.  According to President Donald Trump’s executive order, the deposited BTC in reserves is not supposed to be sold.

Price Action:  At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $118,380.36, up 0.32% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Year-to-date, the cryptocurrency has gained 25.65%.

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  • Jack Dorsey’s Block, With Over $1 Billion In Bitcoin Holdings, Set To Join S&P 500 — Shares Pop 8% In Overnight Trading

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Image Credit: Bob Montgomery / USA TODAY NETWORK Imagn Images

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