Uncertainty as US Government Transferred 9,861 BTC to Coinbase

There was uncertainty on Wednesday as the United States government transferred 9,861 BTC worth $214 million to Coinbase. The asset is worth $214 million as of the time of the transfer. 

According to crypto analytic firm, Glassnode, the Bitcoin forms part of the assets seized from the Silk Road hacker in November 2020 when BTC was priced at $11,000. 

Silk Road was an online black market created by Ross Ulbrich back in 2011. Silk Road was however shut down in 2013, and, founder, Ulbrich is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after being convicted of engaging in a criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Although the purpose of the transfer was not clear, there is fear that the assets were to be sold in the market which could cause a further draw down for the flagship cryptocurrency. 

Regardless of the government’s intentions, the move has not had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market as of the time of writing this report. 

Investors King understands that US authorities have repeatedly held auctions to sell Bitcoin exhibits but have never been recorded transferring digital assets directly to the exchange like that.

Over the years,  the United States government has seized huge amounts of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin from hackers. 

In February 2022, the US Department of Justice announced that it had found the culprit of the 2016 Bitfinex attack, seizing all 94,000 BTC.  

By November of the same year, US authorities continued to recover another 50,000 BTC from an individual accused of hacking into Silk Road.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin prices also saw adverse movements after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that high inflation continues to cause difficulties. 

Powell noted there is a “long way” to get inflation back to 2%, and the road to the target will likely be “bumpy.” Bitcoin is currently trading at $22,173.07, down 1.36% over the past 24 hours.