US government transfers $590 million in bitcoin seized from Silk Road to Coinbase

• The United States reportedly transferred 10,000 BTC seized from Silk Road to Coinbase.
• The government still holds 203,200 BTC, valued at around $12 billion.
• Future US sales could impact the cryptocurrency market.

The US government transferred 10,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth about $590 million to the Coinbase wallet, according to Arkham Intelligence data.

The transferred BTC is linked to assets seized from the infamous dark web marketplace Silk Road.

US Government Bitcoin Transfers

The transferred Bitcoins came from a wallet associated with the US government, which currently holds a significant amount of the cryptocurrency.

According to Arkham data, the US government still controls over 203,200 BTC, making it the largest national holder of Bitcoin in the world. These holdings are valued at around $12 billion based on current market prices.

The majority of the government’s Bitcoin reserves were accumulated through police actions, including the seizure of approximately 174,000 BTC from the Silk Road marketplace.

Silk Road was a notorious online black market that facilitated the sale of illegal goods and services before it was shut down by authorities in 2013. Since then, the U.S. government has periodically sold portions of seized Bitcoin at auction, but large transfers like the recent one to Coinbase have sparked speculation about possible future sales.

This recent transaction follows a previous transfer of approximately $241 million worth of bitcoin in late June, followed by another transfer of $2 billion worth of bitcoin in late July, raising questions about the government’s intentions with these digital assets. It is not yet clear whether the government plans to sell or continue to hold the bitcoin.

The decision to move such a large amount of Bitcoin into a Coinbase wallet has drawn considerable attention, as it could signal upcoming market activity.

Investors and analysts are closely monitoring the situation as any major government sales could impact the cryptocurrency market.