U.S. Government Moves $71 Million in Bitcoin After Six-Week Pause
The U.S. government has moved a significant amount of Bitcoin (BTC) for the first time in six weeks. On Tuesday, government-linked wallets transferred 833.6 BTC, valued at just over $71 million. The coins involved were tied to two major cases: the Potapenko-Turogin fraud case and the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
According to onchain analyst Sani, the transfers began around 11 a.m. Eastern time. A small test transfer of 0.00115539 BTC was sent to Coinbase Prime, followed by a larger move of 264.86266831 BTC to a new wallet. The government also shifted $31.63 million worth of Binance Coin (BNB) from forfeited FTX wallets, including a test transfer of 0.127 BNB and a larger transfer of 40,285.07 BNB.
The transferred BTC was linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, where 120,000 BTC were stolen. The hackers, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, were later caught, and around 94,636 BTC were confiscated. Additionally, 568 BTC from the Potapenko-Turogin fraud case, involving a fake cloud mining operation called Hashflare, were moved.
Coinbase Prime played a central role in these transfers. The U.S. Marshals Service has a history of working with Coinbase to manage seized digital assets, moving away from traditional auctions. After the transfers, the U.S. government still holds 323,693.83 BTC, valued at roughly $27.72 billion.