The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to be preparing to move the $ 2 Billion Silk Road Bitcoins. DOJ initiated a test transaction transferring a small amount 0.001 BTC to a Coinbase prime address.
Shortly after, a much larger transaction of 1,999.999 BTC worth roughly $131 million was sent to a Coinbase Prime hot wallet. While the nature of this transaction remains unclear, it could indicate a potential exchange or internal movement within Coinbase.
The $2 billion in question stems from a lengthy legal battle involving the Silk Road seizures. In late 2023, a U.S. appeals court finalized the forfeiture of over 69,370 bitcoin linked to the illegal marketplace.
A research analyst at Bloomberg, James Seyffart, tweets on the matter that the government waited for Judge Failla’s dismissal of SEC’s accusations against Coinbase for conducting brokerage activity via Coinbase Wallet before taking action.
Bitcoin, which was already significantly down for the day, dropped even more after the news, closing below $65,000. Following a brief reversal, it is currently trading at $65,200, down 4.7% from the previous day.
Will the U.S. government sell or hold onto the 30,175 bitcoins, or may it dump the bitcoins, sparking speculation about its intentions in the cryptocurrency market?
Also Read: U.S. Government Largest Holder with 210,392 BTC Worth $14.4B
