Analysis: US government transfers nearly $600 million in Silk Road Bitcoin may be just for escrow

Odaily Odaily News Arkham Intelligence's blockchain data shows that the U.S. government transferred 10,000 Silk Road-related seized bitcoins (BTC) to Coinbase Prime, the exchange giant's institutional platform, on Wednesday. Analysts said that deposits to exchanges usually indicate an intention to sell assets, but in this case, the transfer may be for custody reasons, as the U.S. Marshals Service, an agency under the U.S. Department of Justice, announced a partnership with Coinbase Prime last month to "protect and trade" large digital assets. According to court documents, the government last confirmed the sale of Silk Road assets in March 2023, when 9,861 tokens were sold for $216 million. The government listed in the documents a plan to sell the remaining assets in four batches that year, but there has been no subsequent contract for the sale since then.