According to on-chain data, the US law enforcement agency moved 49,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — over $1 billion — during the early hours of March 8.
On-chain data provider Glassnode reported that the US agency was moving around 40,000 BTC, adding that the transactions appear to be internal transfers. However, it noted that the government agency sent 9,861 BTC (worth $219 million) seized from the Silk Road hacker to Coinbase.
In 2022, the US government sought the forfeiture of 51,351 Bitcoin seized from James Zhong. At the time, the assets were valued at over $3 billion.
On-chain analyst Lookonchain corroborated Glassnode’s report, adding that the agency transferred 39,175 BTC ($867M) to 2 new addresses.
US govt BTC holding
Before today’s transactions, Glassnode said the US government’s estimated Bitcoin holding was 144,500 BTC, making the country a crypto whale.
Meanwhile, the majority of the US acquisitions were done through seizures. In 2022, the US Department of Justice seized $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack. Before that, the government took 70,000 BTC from Ross Ulbricht when it brought down the Silk Road.
However, the country tends to auction off its seized crypto assets. As of Feb. 2022, the US government held $4.08 billion of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin sheds 2% in 24 hours
Bitcoin dumped 1.67% over the last 24 hours to trade at $22,048 as of press time, according to CryptoSlate’s data.
The US agency transfers birthed speculations within the community, with many fearing a sell-off. Usually, BTC inflows into exchanges increase the selling pressure on the asset.
With BTC giving up much of its January and February gains, Glassnode’s data showed that the number of addresses holding BTC at a Loss on the seven days moving average metrics reached a 1-month high of 15,270,797.429.
CryptoSlate Insight reported that roughly $200 million Bitcoin was withdrawn from exchanges on March 7 — the third highest withdrawal on the year-to-date metric.
Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s recent statement about increasing interest rates further exacerbated its price performance.
