US Marshals Seeks New Recruit to Dispose of Seized Crypto

The U.S. Marshals is looking to hire an individual who can manage cryptocurrencies for the Asset Forfeiture Division. Over the last few years, the law enforcement agency has seized thousands of bitcoins from a variety of investigations. Now the Marshals are in need someone who is competent enough to handle matters like wallet creation, managing blockchain forks, and token transfers.

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USMS Seeks Virtual Currency Manager to Handle Storage and Coin Disposal

Usually, civil forfeiture and seized items involved with a criminal investigation are easy to handle because boats and luxury cars are simple to auction. The USMS explains that the Asset Forfeiture Division (AFD) dismantles organized crime and removing financial incentives from criminals through the seizure and forfeiture of assets. However, since the advent of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, law enforcement entities, particularly the U.S. Marshals (USMS), have had to deal with digital currencies.

For instance, when several three-letter agencies busted the Silk Road, the USMS auctioned well over 30,000 BTC from that investigation. Now, the department is in need of a specialist who can manage seized cryptocurrencies and deal with factors like forks and transferring the coins to auction winners. The scope of work gives great detail on how the individual’s contract will work if hired and how the objectives could change over the life of the contract.

“The purpose of this contract is to provide the full range of virtual currency management and disposal services,” the specifications explain. “This includes but is not limited to such activities as accounting, customer management, audit compliance, managing blockchain forks, wallet creation, transformation of token assets into coin assets, etc., as well as future actions associated with the virtual currency forfeiture process.”

Scope of Work

The USMS explains that the contract for the virtual currency manager will be for 12 months with an option to extend the contract. The contractor can work remotely but will be required to visit the USMS headquarters in Arlington, VA. As far as custody of seized cryptocurrencies is concerned, the contractor must be able to provide secure management and disposal services without delay. According to the USMS contract, the individual provides all of the storage needs and the person must maintain “a complete and accurate accounting of USMS inventory at all times.”

The contract application continues:

The contractor shall take prudent steps to prevent the loss of USMS inventory by all means including but not limited to theft, human error, system failures, and acts of God. Additionally, the contractor shall provide the ability to brute force wallets that are locked by error or technical difficulties — The contractor shall use cold storage for all USMS inventory.

Additionally, the newly hired AFD employee must be able to dispose of the coins in a manner specified by the USMS. This includes exchanging virtual currency into USD, trading into a more liquid form of virtual currency, exchanging to USD through the sale from a sealed-bid auction. There’s also a chance the contractor will have to return virtual currency to the owner and they must process these requests in a “timely and efficient manner.”

Another interesting thing to note is the contract states that if the seized digital assets stem from a very large seizure it is likely the funds will be sold through a sealed-bid auction, rather than on an exchange. “Large disposals of all types of virtual currency shall be completed within forty five (45) calendar days of notification,” the contract explains. Lastly, at its sole discretion, the USMS may terminate the virtual currency managers contract at any time for misconduct or security reasons.

What do you think about the U.S. Marshals AFD hiring someone to take care of seized virtual assets? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Bitcoin.com, and the U.S. Marshals

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Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source code, and decentralized applications. Redman has written thousands of articles for news.Bitcoin.com about the disruptive protocols emerging today.