U.S. Government Moves $2 Billion in Silk Road Bitcoin
The U.S. government has reportedly transferred 30,175 Silk Road Bitcoin to a wallet associated with Coinbase. The transaction, which took place late Tuesday morning, is valued at approximately $2 billion based on BTC’s current price of around $65,000 per coin.
Key points:
- The U.S. government-linked wallet transferred 30,175 BTC to a wallet allegedly belonging to Coinbase.
- The transferred BTC is worth roughly $2 billion at current market prices.
- The last confirmed sale by the U.S. government of seized Silk Road-related Bitcoin occurred in March 2023.
- Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics firm, has identified the receiving wallet as belonging to Coinbase.
Also read: Crypto Funds Bounce Back With $862,000,000 Inflows
The massive movement of BTC has raised eyebrows as it represents a significant portion of the coins seized by the U.S. government in late 2022 in connection with the infamous Silk Road website. The Silk Road, a now-defunct online black market, was known for facilitating the sale of illegal goods and services using cryptocurrencies, primarily bitcoin.
U.S. Government last moved Silk Road Bitcoin In March 2023
In March 2023, the U.S. government confirmed the sale of 9,861 BTC related to the Silk Road case, which fetched a total of $216 million. This sale was part of the government’s ongoing efforts to liquidate the seized digital assets.
However, the latest transfer of 30,175 BTC to a wallet allegedly associated with Coinbase has raised questions about the government’s intentions and the potential impact on the cryptocurrency market.
The transfer happened at a time when BTC has slumped by almost 4.3% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin plunged from a 24-hour high of $69,889 to a low of $64,586 before climbing back to its current price of $65,516.
The global cryptocurrency market cap has also dropped by 4.34% in the last 24 hours. With Bitcoin Halving expected to happen in 17 days, this could possibly be the final slump before the BTC Halving rally.
