Federal authorities are changing their moves Bitcoin Another hiding place.
On Tuesday morning, a wallet tagged as belonging to the U.S. Department of Justice began moving parts of it, according to blockchain data. BTC holdings worth $2 billion were sent to an address that appears to belong to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
Pseudonymous Blockchain Analyst ZachXBT Said Twitter/X reported that the funds were moved to a Coinbase deposit address. A small test transaction of 0.001 BTC (approximately $69) was sent, followed by approximately 2,000 BTC ($131.27 million).
Arkham Intelligence, which tracks blockchain data, has a US government-labeled address on its platform.that show The funds were moved to Coinbase Prime. However, according to transaction data, the majority of Bitcoin's $2 billion remains “unspent” as of this writing.
Federal authorities store Bitcoins seized from criminals and sometimes move them around. Sometimes they're going to sell it.
In January, the government announced plans to sell 2,933 BTC (approximately $133.5 million at the time of listing), but gave non-defendants 60 days to file a claim claiming an interest in the virtual currency. said. Tuesday's move could be related to that expected sale.
Back in November 2021, authorities confiscated Hacker James Zhong worth $3.36 billion after confessing to stealing digital assets from the illegal Silk Road market (a place where people can use cryptocurrencies to buy drugs and other illegal goods) of BTC was leaked.
Update: 1999 BTC ($139 million) was sent to the same Coinbase Prime deposit address
txn hash
b614dd2e0fa06d776ee4d45973fab5ceb6e2dfebfb84e5f7bd45ef0975455240— Zach XBT (@zachxbt) April 2, 2024
Bitcoiners tend to focus on large and well-known BTC holders when moving large amounts of money. The price of Bitcoin has fallen as observers expect Bitcoin to be sold off due to previous moves, or even suspected moves.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor's note: This article was updated with additional details after publication.
