US authorities move $ 600 million worth of confiscated bitcoins

The US government recently made a significant transfer of its confiscated digital assets. According to CoinDesk, about 10,000 bitcoins BTC $65,551.74 Bitcoin -0.38% Market capitalization $1.3 trillion VOL. 24 hours $0.56 billion related to the Silk Road case were transferred to Coinbase Prime, the institutional arm of the cryptocurrency exchange. The value of the transaction is approximately $ 600 million.

While such large deposits on exchanges often indicate an intention to sell assets, CoinDesk speculates that this particular transfer may have been driven by asset preservation considerations. The media speculation is supported by the recent announcement by the U.S. Marshals Service of a partnership with Coinbase Prime to secure and trade large digital assets.

Interestingly, the bitcoin price dropped from $ 61,000 to $ 59,000 even before this government transfer took place. This suggests that the transfer was not the cause of the price drop.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of more than 50,000 bitcoins and the arrest of James Zhong, who confessed to fraud related to manipulation of the Silk Road transaction system in 2012. The last confirmed sale of Silk Road assets by the US government took place in March 2023, when 9,861 bitcoins were sold for $ 216 million. According to Arkham, wallets linked to the US government currently contain $ 12 billion in bitcoin, as well as smaller amounts of other confiscated cryptocurrencies.

As a reminder, in April, a government wallet controlled by the US authorities initiated a transfer of about 2000 BTC to Coinbase Prime. And in July, the U.S. Marshals Service chose Coinbase to provide storage and sales services for high-capitalization cryptocurrencies.