According to a post posted by Arkham, an on-chain data analysis platform, after midnight today , the US government transferred 10,000 Bitcoins (the stolen money seized by Silk Road) to the US exchange Coinbase Prime late last night.
Arkham explained that the wallet starting with bc1ql received Bitcoins currently worth approximately $580 million from a wallet labeled "U.S. Government" two weeks ago.
Is the U.S. government selling BTC again? Maybe not necessarily
Generally speaking, a deposit to an exchange indicates an intention to sell assets. Since the U.S. government holds more than 200,000 BTC, it has always attracted market attention, but this transfer is not necessarily for the purpose of selling Bitcoin.
First of all, because the Marshals Service under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a partnership with Coinbase Prime in July to "protect and trade" digital assets, this transfer may be for the purpose of custody of assets.
On the other hand, if the U.S. government really intends to sell BTC, there should be legal documents announcing the sale plan. According to court documents, the last confirmed sale of Silk Road assets by the U.S. government was in March 2023, when 9,861 tokens were sold for $216 million. (The authorities set out in the document a plan to sell remaining assets in four installments that year)
Therefore, investors may not need to panic now and can continue to observe patiently.
Extended reading: Trump vows to “not sell” the U.S. government’s Bitcoin, but things are not as simple as he thought
BTC holds on to $58,000
At the moment of writing, Bitcoin has dropped close to $58,000, and all gains this week have been given back. If it cannot hold the previous low of $57,500, it may continue to fall.
