While the strategic Bitcoin reserve promised by Donald Trump still does not exist, a scandal may well involve the cryptocurrency holdings seized by U.S. authorities as part of legal proceedings. At the heart of the matter: the theft of more than $40 million detected by crypto investigator ZachXBT.
Seized Cryptocurrencies: $40 Million Stolen from the U.S. Government’s Coffers?
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump made his proposed Bitcoin strategic reserve a central part of his pro-crypto political platform. More than a year after taking office, this ambition remains stalled, with the only real achievement being a ban on selling cryptocurrencies seized during legal proceedings.
This presidential directive appears to have been ignored by certain federal agencies, given that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York decided to unilaterally sell the 57.5 BTC—worth approximately $6 million at the time—seized in connection with the Samurai Wallet case.
And this is apparently just the tip of the iceberg, given a leak of government-seized cryptocurrencies that could also involve fraudulent transactions, according to details recently published by crypto investigator ZachXBT.
Indeed, it appears that the son—John (Lick)—of the owner of a company holding an “active IT contract with the Virginia government” has just claimed, perhaps without realizing it, to have stolen “more than $40 million from U.S. government seizure addresses.”
A “band-for-band” challenge turns into evidence
It all began as part of a “band for band” challenge involving two malicious actors in a chat group, “to see who had the most funds in their crypto wallets.” The challenge consisted of demonstrating in real time—with screenshots to back it up—who had the largest portfolio of stolen funds.
Amid this dubious ego battle was a certain John (Lick), who was quickly “caught flaunting $23 million in a wallet address directly linked to an alleged 2024 theft of $90 million held by the U.S. government, as well as multiple other unidentified victims between November 2025 and December 2025 .”
Exposed wallet address
The malicious actors boast about having stolen the funds in leaked recordings, rather than simply keeping a low profile after an alleged theft at the expense of the U.S. government. (…) The proof of ownership of these wallets makes the future investigation very straightforward for law enforcement.
ZachXBT
Whether it was a guilty plea or simply a precautionary measure, the infamous John (Lick) “quickly deleted all NFT usernames from his Telegram account and changed his username” after ZachXBT’s post, while sending crypto to his public address as an obvious “dust” provocation.
According to the crypto investigator, the only real question still unanswered in this case is how the young man “gained access through his father.”
