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The Feds are transferring bitcoin to Coinbase from a $2 billion crypto wallet seized from Silk Road

Apr 4, 2024, 21:51 IST
Business Insider
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
  • The US government transferred some of its bitcoin stash to Coinbase this week.
  • The government owns about $2 billion worth of bitcoin in a wallet seized from the dark web's Silk Road.
  • About 2,000 bitcoin were transferred to Coinbase, worth about $130 million.
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The US government has moved some of its bitcoin stash to Coinbase, according to a closely followed crypto wallet on the blockchain.

The crypto wallet is known to be held by the US government and stems from its seizure of bitcoin from the dark web's Silk Road, which was a global e-commerce website for illegal drugs, weapons, and other illicit activities that were facilitated via the transfer of bitcoin and was shut down in 2013.

On Tuesday, the US government transferred $65 worth of bitcoin to a wallet address held at Coinbase, according to Arkham Intelligence. The first transfer was seen as a test to ensure proper connection to the prime account at Coinbase.

From there, the US government followed through with a 2,000 bitcoin transfer worth about $131 million to the same Coinbase wallet. Earlier this year, the US government indicated plans to sell about $13 million worth of bitcoin following approval from the US District Court of Maryland.

Market participants closely watch the US government's crypto wallet for transactions, as any large sales could impact the price of bitcoin.

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The US government's crypto wallet stemming from the Silk Road confiscation still holds just over 30,000 bitcoins worth about $2 billion at current prices.

This isn't the only bitcoin the US government owns. There is another US government crypto wallet that contains about 94,600 bitcoins worth more than $6 billion that was confiscated from hackers.

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