The U.S. government just transferred 10,000 Bitcoins, worth around $600 million, to a mysterious wallet linked to Coinbase. These Bitcoins were once part of the infamous Silk Road dark web marketplace.
For those who don’t know, these Bitcoins have been in Uncle Sam’s hands since the Silk Road takedown in 2013. Over the years, the government has sold off bits and pieces of this digital treasure in auctions.
The largest Bitcoin hoarder on earth
Let’s talk numbers. According to Arkham Intelligence the U.S. government is sitting on a pile of over 203,200 Bitcoins. That makes them the biggest national holder of Bitcoin in the world, with a stash worth over $12 billion at current prices.
In late June, the government moved $241 million worth of Bitcoin. Then, in late July, they outdid themselves by moving nearly $2 billion in Bitcoin.
Investors are on high alert, watching for any signs that the government might dump a huge amount of Bitcoin on the market. If that happens, it could destabilize markets even more.
The U.S. government got its hands on these Bitcoins through law enforcement actions, mainly from the Silk Road bust where they seized about 174,000 BTC.
Since then, they’ve held onto most of these assets, only selling off small chunks here and there. But these recent moves are the biggest we’ve seen in years.
One of the reasons this move is so interesting is because of what’s happening with Coinbase. There’s been talk that Coinbase might launch a new synthetic Bitcoin token called cbBTC.
If true, it could make Coinbase a major player in the synthetic Bitcoin market, especially since people are getting a bit nervous about wBTC. The timing of this transfer, right when the rumor is spreading, is suspicious, to say the least.
At press time, Bitcoin was worth $60,734 after staging a remarkable recovery after the global financial meltdown that was triggered mainly by the Bank of Japan.
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