The U.S. Government Continues to Sell Bitcoin Holdings

Bitcoin experienced a 2.5% drop on Wednesday to $59,100 following the U.S. government’s transfer of more Silk Road-affiliated Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase Prime. Arkham Intelligence, an on-chain analysis platform, identified the move and highlighted that 10,000 BTC, valued at $593 million, had been transferred. This transfer involved moving the Bitcoin from a known U.S. government wallet to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet.

According to Arkham Intelligence, the U.S. government’s Bitcoin wallet still holds 203,239 BTC, which is equivalent to $12 billion. A significant portion of this Bitcoin was confiscated from the hacker behind the Silk Road darknet marketplace in 2021. This seizure of 50,000 BTC was a historic financial seizure conducted by the Department of Justice at that time.

Subsequent to the Silk Road seizure, the Department of Justice surpassed this record by seizing 94,600 BTC from Heather ‘Razzlekhan’ Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, who were involved in hacking the Bitfinex crypto exchange. The recent movement of Bitcoin to Coinbase indicates the government’s ongoing sale of BTC assets, despite previous statements made by former President Donald Trump promising to hold onto the government’s Bitcoin holdings if he were elected president.

In addition to selling Bitcoin holdings, the U.S. government is also actively redistributing BTC to Mt. Gox creditors. Arkham Intelligence highlighted a significant $2 billion Bitcoin transfer on Tuesday, involving creditors’ coins being moved from BitGo’s blockchain wallet. This redistribution signals ongoing efforts by the government to manage and allocate seized Bitcoin assets to various parties.

By observing these recent developments, it is evident that the U.S. government remains active in managing and liquidating seized Bitcoin assets. The movement of significant amounts of Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime and the ongoing redistribution to Mt. Gox creditors reflect the government’s strategy to handle and leverage these digital assets in the financial market.