Wallets believed to be linked to the US government moved over 100 million USD in digital assets during the trading session on 6/10, according to data from blockchain intelligence firm Arkham. Initially, 833,599 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at approximately 71,6 million USD at the time of the transaction, were transferred to two addresses that Arkham could not identify. Several hours later, both of these addresses further moved the Bitcoin to an account identified by Arkham as a recipient address for Coinbase Prime, a brokerage platform designed by Coinbase specifically for institutional clients and large investors.
In a separate transaction, a wallet labeled as belonging to the US government transferred approximately 40.285 Binance Coin (BNB), valued at 31,63 million USD, to an unidentified address. This address subsequently moved all the BNB to another unidentified account.
The aforementioned Bitcoin originated from two sources. Approximately 568,7 BTC came from a wallet Arkham labeled as assets seized in the Potapenko - Turogin case. These individuals operated HashFlare, a Bitcoin mining platform accused by the US of defrauding hundreds of millions of USD. Both individuals pleaded guilty, leading to the seizure of a portion of assets from the case.
The remaining 264,9 BTC were part of the funds recovered by the US government from the 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, when hackers stole Bitcoin worth 71 million USD. The US later seized some Bitcoin related to this case.
Meanwhile, the BNB originated from assets seized from Alameda Research, a digital asset trading firm part of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX empire. Following the collapse of FTX in 2022, the US and other parties seized, froze, and recovered many of Alameda's assets during the case proceedings and bankruptcy filings.
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A 1 USD bill placed on symbolic Bitcoin coins. *Photo: Reuters*
The US government currently holds approximately 27,5 billion USD in digital assets, all of which were seized through law enforcement operations. To date, the country has not used taxpayer money to purchase additional digital assets.
According to CoinDesk, similar transfers often raise concerns that the US government is preparing to sell assets. However, this instance does not appear to be a sale transaction.
"Moving money out of a wallet does not mean a sale. According to an executive order issued in 3/2025, seized Bitcoin is transferred to the government to be held in a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve", stated Jose Rosell, a market commentator.
By Tieu Gu (according to CoinDesk)
