Bitcoin
US Govt transfers seized Silk Road Bitcoins worth $2 billion to Coinbase
The United States government has recently executed a significant transaction involving 30,175 Bitcoins originally seized from the notorious darknet marketplace, Silk Road…
Blockchair, a blockchain explorer, unveiled that a U.S. government-owned wallet initiated this transfer, directing the substantial sum to the cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, on April 2nd.
With Bitcoin currently valued at approximately $65,000 per coin, the total worth of this transfer eclipses $2 billion, marking a substantial movement of assets within the crypto sphere.
Additionally, blockchain analyst ZachXBT detected a minor test transaction of 0.001 BTC, equivalent to $69, sent to a Coinbase deposit address, potentially indicating a preliminary step before the larger transfer.
This recent action follows a series of notable transactions involving seized assets linked to Silk Road.
Back in late 2022, the government confiscated around 50,000 BTC associated with the illicit platform.
In March 2023, a significant portion of these assets—9,861 Bitcoins valued at $216 million—were liquidated by the government.
In January 2024, government officials publicly disclosed their plan to sell a portion of the cryptocurrency tied to Silk Road, specifying holdings amounting to 2,934 BTC.
Subsequently, in February, the U.S. government executed another transfer, this time involving 15,085 Bitcoins seized from the hacked exchange, Bitfinex, valued at nearly $947 million.
The transaction encompassed multiple steps, starting with a test transfer of one BTC, followed by subsequent transfers totalling 15,082 BTC.
Remarkably, additional analysis reveals that the U.S. government possesses a substantial Bitcoin reserve, estimated at 210,392 BTC with a market value of $14.4 billion.
This makes the government one of the most prominent holders of Bitcoin globally.
Despite a prior sale of a single Bitcoin in July 2023, the government’s holdings have seen a remarkable appreciation, reflecting a 2.4-fold increase in unrealized profits.