The U.S. government moved $2 billion worth of seized bitcoin (BTC) on Monday, tanking already retreating prices and sparking investor concerns of selling the assets just two days after presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s promise to begin stacking BTC.
Blockchain data by Arkham Intelligence shows that a wallet tagged as “U.S. Government: Silk Road DOJ” transferred 29,800 BTC related to the Silk Road website to an unlabeled address with no prior history of transactions. Then, the address forwarded 19,800 BTC and 10,000 BTC to two different addresses.
Arkham analysts suspected that the 10,000 BTC transfer was a deposit to an institutional custody or service.
Prior movements often foreshadowed impending asset sales.
BTC tumbled below $67,000 following the transfer, extending its decline from the $70,000 session high earlier today. At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $66,700, down 1.6% over the past 24 hours. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index was flat over the same time period.
Though not necessarily related, the government’s move this morning followed Donald Trump’s weekend promise at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville to create a “strategic national bitcoin stockpile” if elected.
Prior to the transfer, the U.S. government held $12 billion worth of seized bitcoin, according to Arkham’s data.
UPDATE (July 29, 17:36 UTC): Adds Arkham’s update about new bitcoin transfer.
