A crypto pockets labeled as belonging to the U.S. authorities transferred roughly $2 billion value of confiscated Bitcoin (BTC) related to the notorious Silk Highway market to a brand new unlabeled handle — sending the price of Bitcoin decrease and igniting investor considerations about promoting the property simply two days after presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s promise to “keep 100%” of seized Bitcoin.
Feds Making ready To Promote Silk Highway Bitcoin Once more?
The Feds are transferring their Bitcoin stash once more.
Blockchain knowledge by Arkham Intelligence reveals {that a} pockets tagged as belonging to the US Division of Justice moved $2 billion value of its BTC to a brand new handle on Monday. This handle despatched 19,800 BTC ($1.3 billion) and 10,000 BTC ($670 million) to 2 completely different wallets. Arkham stated the ten,000 BTC stash was deposited to institutional custody or service.
The roughly 28,000 BTC, valued at greater than $2 billion, is tied to funds the DOJ beforehand seized from the now-defunct darkish internet market Silk Highway. In late 2023, a U.S. court docket finalized a mandate that formalized the forfeiture of 69,370 BTC and different crypto linked to the Silk Highway.
The newest switch spooked traders, though it’s unclear whether or not the US intends to promote at this time’s transferred BTC. The BTC price plummeted under $67,000 after inching towards the $70,000 mark earlier within the day. Bitcoin had barely rebounded to $67,284 at press time, down 1.1% over the previous 24 hours. The alpha crypto continues to be under its 2021 all-time excessive of $69,044.
Silk Highway, which went bust over 10 years in the past, allowed customers to buy and promote unlawful items, together with weapons, narcotics, and stolen bank card data. U.S. authorities arrested its creator, Ross Ulbricht, in 2013. He’s at present serving two life sentences with out the potential of parole.
BTC As A Strategic Reserve Asset For US
The U.S. authorities’s BTC motion comes simply two days after Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump instructed the viewers at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, Tennesse, that he would create a nationwide “strategic Bitcoin stockpile” if he returned to the Oval Workplace. As a part of that proposal, Trump indicated that the federal government would not promote any confiscated crypto.
The 78-year-old politician additionally repeated his promise to commute the sentence of Silk Highway’s Ulbricht if reelected president.
In response to Arkham, the U.S. authorities was sitting on a $12 billion BTC fortune earlier than Monday’s switch — making it one of many single largest Bitcoin house owners on the earth after Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy.