YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — On Wednesday, the US authorities transferred 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) seized from the Silk Street case, valued at roughly $600 million, to Coinbase Prime. Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analysis agency, recognized the switch. The crypto pockets concerned had acquired the bitcoin two weeks earlier from a pockets tagged as “U.S. Government: Silk Road DOJ Confiscated Funds.”
DOJ’s $3.36B Silk Street BTC Seizure and 2023 Asset Gross sales Overview
In 2022, the Division of Justice (DOJ) seized over 50,000 BTC after arresting James Zhong, who pleaded responsible to wire fraud. Zhong was accused of exploiting Silk Street’s transaction system in 2012.
The federal government final offered seized Silk Street-linked bitcoin in March 2023, unloading 9,861 BTC for $216 million, in response to court docket information. Plans had been made to promote the remaining belongings in 4 tranches, however there have been no updates since.
Authorities’s $12B BTC Stash and Market Response
Bitcoin’s price dropped to $59,000 from $61,000 earlier on Wednesday, although this occurred earlier than information of the switch emerged. The price change suggests uncertainty concerning the market’s response. Wallets linked to the U.S. authorities presently maintain round $12 billion price of BTC, together with smaller quantities of different cryptocurrencies, as per Arkham Intelligence.
For the time being of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is priced at $58,310.65, reflecting a 1.83% improve over the previous 7 days. The cryptocurrency’s market capitalization stands at roughly $1.15 trillion, having decreased by 4.26%. The 24-hour buying and selling quantity has surged by 14.57% to achieve $32.92 billion. At present, the volume-to-market cap ratio is 2.86%. The circulating provide of Bitcoin is nineteen,739,978 BTC, which represents 94.00% of its most provide of 21 million BTC.
The U.S. Marshals Service, a division of the DOJ, partnered with Coinbase Prime final month to “safeguard and trade” large-cap digital belongings. The small print of what occurs to the bitcoin after the switch to Coinbase Prime stay unclear.