A few weeks ago, we briefly affected how the forfeiture of civil acting can apply to Bitcoin, a process in which the government can seize the citizen’s assets without accusing a person of a crime. With the US government that says the forfeiture of civil active will form a key pill in building its strategic Bitcoin reserve, the fifth change integrity recovery law of 2023 is also known as the Fair Act, arguably the most important bill introduced in Congress today to protect Bitcoin owners from widespread government transcendent. Without that, many may see that their Bitcoin was seized and lost on behalf of the reserve with little or no use.
The ban on civil active has long been argued to need drastic reform. Throughout the country, states have become known for abusing the process of enriching their own law enforcement authorities, which may fit the funds raised. From the police who seize a Vietnam veteran van to serve as a “container” to marijuana or try to appropriate a man’s life savings over a violation of the seat belt, the forfeiture of civil active “is one of the most serious abuse of power in the country today,” according to the Department of Justice.
The forfeiture of civil active is particularly problematic as the process creates an economic incentive for law enforcement to perish the citizens’ property to the government without a proper process, as stated by ACLU. Especially in the light of Bitcoin’s scarcity and its resulting impairment over time, this economic incentive is worsened only when the forfeiture of civilian assets is used to build the strategic Bitcoin reserve.
In order to protect citizens from the abuse of civil active abuse, the Fair Act from 2023, which was reintroduced in 2024 co-sponsored by Senator Lummis, aims to revise the federal laws that control the process to ensure that forfeiture in civil active follows the process of the process of controlling the fifth change.
First, it does so by raising the evidence standard from “overweight” of evidence – which means that a party’s claim is pretty true than not – to clear and convince evidence, increasing the burden of proof that the government must give to enforce a perdition.
With FAIR ACT, enforcement agencies have to note that there was a significant link between the property and the offense as well as that the owner of any interest in the seized property used the property with intention to facilitate the offense or consent or will deliberately blindly blind to the use of the property with another in connection with the offense. This forms the most important aspect of the action as it applies to Bitcoin.
Currently, the government could seize a person’s legally acquired Bitcoin if, for example, Utxo had been used in sanctions evasion or affected a darknet market; Whether its owner was aware of the history of the coin when he got it. By introducing active consent and intentional blindness, the FAIR ACT assumption, as the owner of Bitcoin, to be forfeited, was aware of the acquired BTC’s origin of forfeiture to apply.
FAIR ACT also requires the government to appoint an adviser to property owners who are financially unable to achieve representation or if the cost of getting representation would exceed the value of the seized property – a question that has undoubtedly prevented many from contesting the forfeiture of assets in the first place, as civilian assets for permanence effectively turn the burden of proof. At the moment to get your property back, you must prove that the government is wrong instead of the government having to make a case against you.
“The forfeiture of civilian asset allows federal law enforcement to seize the property of Americans who have not even been indicted or convicted of a crime,” said Sen. Booker that introduced the Bill together with Senator Rand Paul. “Under this system, the police can keep cash, cars and even homes based on simply suspicion of a crime. These losses often become law enforcement because the burden is on the property owner to prove that they should get their property back.”
“The government should never have the power to seize a person’s property without a proper process. Nevertheless, under the current law on the forfeiture of civilian assets, Americans are deprived of their property without ever being charged or convicted of a crime. The fairy directs directly to these injustices and is a critical step towards restoring justice and responsibility, protecting the rights of property and will restrict the rights Everyone, and for everyone, ”Paul belongs to the decision.
If you originate in the strategic Bitcoin reserve, the adoption of the Fair Act must be a prerequisite for its establishment to ensure that the government’s Bitcoin stack is not based on abuse of its powers.
This is a guest post of L0LA L33TZ. Opinions that are expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those from BTC Inc or Bitcoin magazine.