The U.S. government has made a substantial move with its seized digital assets.
According to a recent report by CoinDesk, blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence reveals that 10,000 bitcoins related to the infamous Silk Road case have been transferred to Coinbase Prime, the institutional arm of the major cryptocurrency exchange.
CoinDesk reports that the transfer, worth approximately $600 million, originated from a wallet that had received these funds just two weeks prior. The source wallet was tagged as “U.S. Government: Silk Road DOJ Confiscated Funds,” indicating its connection to the Department of Justice’s seizure of assets from the dark web marketplace.
While such large deposits to exchanges often signal an intention to sell, CoinDesk suggests that this particular transfer may be motivated by custody considerations. This speculation is supported by the U.S. Marshals Service’s recent announcement of a partnership with Coinbase Prime for safeguarding and trading large-cap digital assets.
Interestingly, CoinDesk notes that while Bitcoin’s price dropped from $61,000 to $59,000 earlier in the day, this decline occurred before the government’s transaction took place. This timing suggests that the transfer itself may not have been the cause of the price movement.
The article provides context on the origin of these funds. CoinDesk reminds readers that in 2022, the DOJ announced the seizure of over 50,000 BTC and the arrest of James Zhong. Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud related to manipulating Silk Road’s transaction system in 2012.
According to CoinDesk, the last confirmed sale of Silk Road assets by the U.S. government occurred in March 2023, when 9,861 coins were sold for $216 million. While there were plans to sell the remaining assets in four tranches that year, CoinDesk reports that no follow-up communications about further sales have been made public since then.
CoinDesk’s report, citing data from Arkham, reveals the scale of the government’s cryptocurrency holdings. Wallets linked to the U.S. government currently hold $12 billion in BTC, along with smaller amounts of other seized cryptocurrencies.
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