US authorities move stolen bitcoins worth $ 922 million

According to Arkham Intelligence analysts, the US government transferred $ 922 million worth of bitcoins to BTC $98,474.16 Bitcoin -0.21% Market capitalization $1.95 trillion VOL. 24 hours $3.55 billion from two cryptocurrency wallets. They were used to store funds confiscated from hackers who hacked the Bitfinex crypto exchange back in 2016.

The US government’s transfers took place on February 28, when bitcoin rose above $ 60,000 for the first time since November 2021.

According to the service, on Wednesday, February 28, 1 BTC was sent from one wallet, after which 2,817 BTC ($ 172.74 million) was transferred to unknown addresses. On the same day, another wallet made a test transaction of 0.01 BTC, followed by a transfer of 12,267 BTC ($ 748.46 million).

The total value of the transferred bitcoins was about $ 922 million. Previously, these wallets contained funds confiscated by the US government from hackers of the Bitfinex crypto exchange.

In February 2022, the US authorities arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, seizing more than 94,000 BTC ($ 3.6 billion) from them. In August 2023, they pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Last year in July, the US authorities moved bitcoins previously confiscated from Silk Road. In several transactions, government-affiliated wallets transferred more than 9824 BTC. Also in March 2023, the US government sold 9861 BTC for $ 215 million. This was only a fraction of the confiscated assets that remained at that time. The authorities planned to liquidate the cryptocurrency in four batches during the year.