US govt moves $2b worth of Bitcoin after Trump’s ‘no sell’ speech

Bitcoin fell slightly on Monday after the U.S. government transferred a significant amount of Bitcoin from the Silk Road cryptocurrency treasury.

Data from Arkham has shown that the U.S. government sent approximately $2 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to a new address. The transactions were made in two batches, each worth approximately $669 million and $1.33 billion.

According to Arkham, the funds were likely transferred to an institutional custody service. Coinbase is one possible candidate due to being the preferred brokerage platform of US authorities, but has not yet been confirmed.

UPDATE: US Government Splits $2 Billion in Bitcoin into Two Addresses:

10,000 BTC ($669.35 million): bc1qlap8hkt9genaljz5nt2zlehhudx63zlahr2zek
19,800 BTC ($1.33 Billion): bc1qngydl7hmgdtmuqjmtsyj3pcwszv0yn5mj6kz4c

We think this was a 10,000 BTC deposit to a corporate company… https://t.co/0aULBXGd8P pic.twitter.com/RTwtaqvMmM

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 29, 2024

No one is yet sure who controls the address. Bitcoin fell about 1% following the news, trading below $67,600. The drop comes after BTC briefly touched $70,000 for the first time since May.

Bitcoin community reacts

The lack of detailed information about how the wallet is managed has not deterred speculation. Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss noted that the transfers occurred shortly after former President Donald Trump announced his intention to halt all government Bitcoin sales if he was re-elected. The timing has led to further speculation about the current administration’s plans for the country’s BTC reserves.

Speculators are wondering if the current Democratic administration led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to divest the country’s BTC stockpile.

Saturday, @realdonaldtrump He vowed to never sell any of the US government’s bitcoin. Two days later, the Biden-Harris Administration moved $2 billion worth of Silk Road bitcoin. A great look and a great way to start over with our industry. 🤡

— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) July 29, 2024

At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Trump vowed to turn the seized Silk Road BTC into a strategic national reserve. His promise to fire Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler was met with enthusiastic applause from the crypto community. Trump’s campaign also highlighted the case of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, and many in the Web3 community supported his release.