The
transfer
could
spark
selling
pressure
in
the
market
as
it
indicates
that
the
U.S.
government
is
preparing
to
sell
or
has
already
sold
the
assets.
Updated
Dec
2,
2024,
5:40 p.m.
Published
Dec
2,
2024,
5:33 p.m.
Road
bitcoin
has
been
moved
to
an
exchange
(Xia
Yuan/Getty
Images)
What
to
know:
-
Some
19,800
BTC
linked
to
Silk
Road
were
moved
to
Coinbase
Prime
on
Monday,
blockchain
data
shows,
possibly
foreshadowing
the
U.S.
government
selling
the
seized
assets. -
BTC
dipped
below
$96,000
following
the
transfer. -
The
U.S.
Marshals
Service,
a
division
of
the
DOJ,
announced
a
partnership
with
Coinbase
Prime
to
“safeguard
and
trade”
the
government’s
large-cap
digital
assets.
Nearly
$2
billion
worth
of
forfeited
bitcoin
(BTC)
linked
to
the
Silk
Road
website
were
moved
to
crypto
exchange
Coinbase
Prime
on
Monday.
A
wallet
tagged
as
“U.S.
Government:
Silk
Road
DOJ
Confiscated
Funds”
transferred
19,800
bitcoin
on
Monday
to
a
fresh
address
with
no
prior
history
of
transactions,
blockchain
data
by
Arkham
Intelligence
showed.
The
funds
were
then
deposited
to
Coinbase
Prime.
continues
below
The
transfer
likely
indicates
that
the
government
is
preparing
to
sell
or
has
already
sold
the
assets.
Earlier
instances
of
government
selling
this
year
sparked
sizable
selloffs
in
bitcoin,
but
the
action
today
—
so
far
—
has
been
more
muted,
with
the
price
dipping
a
bit
more
than
1%
to
the
current
$95,800
since
the
news
hit.
Following
this
move,
the
U.S.
government
still
holds
$18
billion
worth
of
seized
crypto
assets,
per
Arkham.
The
Department
of
Justice
announced
in
2022
that
it
seized
over
50,000
BTC
and
arrested
James
Zhong,
who
pleaded
guilty
to
wire
fraud
after
the
government
alleged
he
manipulated
the
transaction
system
of
dark
web
market
Silk
Road
in
2012.
Last
month,
U.S.
district
court
of
Northern
California
requested
involved
parties
to
“stipulate
that
government
may
liquidate
some
or
all”
of
the
forfeited
digital
assets
related
to
Silk
Road
and
holding
on
the
funds
while
an
ongoing
FOIA
action
resolves.
The
last
confirmed
sale
of
Silk
Road
assets
by
the
government
was
in
March
2023
selling
nearly
10,000
BTC
for
$216
million,
court
filings
show.
The
government
laid
out
plans
in
the
filing
to
sell
the
remaining
assets
in
four
tranches
during
that
year,
but
there
wasn’t
follow-up
communication
about
any
sales
since
then.
Earlier
this
year,
the
U.S.
Marshals
Service,
a
division
of
the
DOJ,
announced
a
partnership
with
Coinbase
Prime
to
“safeguard
and
trade”
the
government’s
large-cap
digital
assets.
Krisztian
Sandor
Krisztian
Sandor
recently
graduated
from
NYU’s
business
and
economic
reporter
program
as
a
Fulbright
fellow
and
worked
with
Reuters
and
Forbes
previously.
Originally
from
Budapest,
Hungary,
he
is
now
based
in
New
York.
He
holds
BTC
and
ETH.
