US Government Makes Surprise $2B Bitcoin Transfer On Heels Of Silk Road Seizure

A tag named ‘U.S. Government’ on the Arkham blockchain platform transferred a significant amount of Bitcoin on Tuesday, April 2.

What Happened: A wallet that’s associated with the government sent 30,175 Bitcoin BTC/USD, valued at roughly $2 billion based on current prices, to a wallet believed to be owned by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase COIN.

Given the current valuation of Bitcoin around the $65,000 mark, this move involved approximately $2 billion worth of the digital currency.

This activity comes after the U.S. government’s previous engagement in the cryptocurrency market, notably its seizure of around 50,000 Bitcoin in late 2022, linked to the infamous Silk Road online marketplace.

The most recent publicized disposal of these assets occurred in March 2023, where the government sold 9,861 Bitcoin, generating $216 million.

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The destination of this considerable amount of bitcoins was initially unknown. However, an analysis by Arkham Intelligence suggests the receiving wallet is associated with Coinbase.

The market reacted to this substantial transaction with a slight downturn in Bitcoin’s value, dipping below $65,000, although it later experienced a minor recovery to $65,200, reflecting a 4.7% decline over the last 24 hours.

This development is poised to be a topic of interest at the Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 19, where participants will delve into the implications of significant government transactions in the cryptocurrency space and their broader impact on digital asset markets.

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