The US federal government intends to remove the $500k cap on civil asset forfeitures of bitcoin and digital assets. Under such “administrative” or “non-judicial” forfeiture, the seizing agency decides on what will be seized. A ruling from a judge or a criminal conviction is not required for these.
The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit, public interest law firm, described civil asset forfeiture as “Policing for Profit” in a 2019 article. In it, they described numerous egregious examples of confiscation. In one instance, $53k was taken from the tour manager for a Christian musical act during a traffic stop. The money was proceeds from a concert and donations for refugees and orphans.
Australians are subjected to the confiscation of assets without conviction at the federal level and state level (excluding Tasmania). Ostensibly, these actions are used to oppose money laundering and terrorist financing and are supported by FATF, the Financial Action Task Force.
