Verdict:
Mostly False — The U.S. Government is moving seized Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime for custodial purposes, not actively selling it. President Donald Trump’s March 2025 Executive Order explicitly prohibits the sale of Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
What’s the claim?
On-chain activity, social media, and crypto community discussions have sparked claims that the U.S. Government is actively selling its seized Bitcoin holdings. The narrative gained traction after blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence flagged two separate transfers of forfeited Bitcoin (BTC) to Coinbase Prime in April 2026 — ~$177,000 on April 10 and ~$606,000 on April 17.
In both cases, the transfers originated from government-controlled wallets linked to criminal forfeiture cases. The April 10 transfer involved funds seized from Glenn Bradford Olivio, who was indicted in 2025 for conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and money laundering. The April 17 transfer was linked to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, in which Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan stole nearly 120,000 BTC from the exchange.
Arkham’s post ended with a provocative question — “Will they sell the stolen BTC on Coinbase?” — which fueled speculation and triggered community responses on X. However, the framing of the question does not constitute evidence of intent to sell, and a Coinbase Prime transfer does not confirm an imminent liquidation.
What does the executive order say?
On March 6, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. The order is explicit on the question of selling: Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is to be maintained as a long-term store of value and may not be sold.
The White House fact sheet states: “The United States will not sell bitcoin deposited into this Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which will be maintained as a store of reserve assets.” White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks described the reserve as a “digital Fort Knox” and noted that premature sales of seized Bitcoin had already cost U.S. taxpayers over $17 billion in lost value.
The Reserve is capitalized exclusively with Bitcoin owned by the Department of Treasury that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. Other agencies are directed to evaluate their legal authority to transfer any Bitcoin they hold to the Reserve. Congressman Byron Donalds subsequently introduced legislation to codify the Executive Order, reinforcing that Bitcoin deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve may not be sold.
Why is BTC being moved to Coinbase Prime?
Coinbase Prime serves as a regulated institutional custody platform. The U.S. Marshals Service, the federal courts’ enforcement arm, has a $32.5 million custodial services contract with Coinbase. Moving seized Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime is a standard part of the government’s asset management workflow — it does not automatically signal a forthcoming sale.
The government has used Coinbase Prime for both custodial storage and, historically, for facilitating liquidation of forfeited crypto assets before the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established. Under the current policy framework, however, the transfers represent consolidation into regulated custody rather than positioning for market sales.
Regarding the Bitfinex-linked funds specifically, a federal court in early 2025 ordered in-kind restitution of seized Bitcoin to Bitfinex. That means the government is legally required to return the recovered Bitcoin to the exchange as part of victim compensation, not sell it on the open market.
How big are these transfers relative to total holdings?
According to Arkham Intelligence’s tracking across 610 identified government addresses, the U.S. Government currently holds approximately 328,361 BTC, valued at roughly $24 billion at current prices around $73,000–$74,000 per coin. The portfolio is overwhelmingly Bitcoin, with smaller holdings of 62,742 ETH ($141 million), 126.2 million USDT, and 750 WBTC ($54.67 million).
The combined April transfers — $177,000 and $606,000 — total approximately $783,000. That represents roughly 0.003% of the government’s total Bitcoin holdings. By any measure, these movements are too small to have any meaningful impact on market prices and are far too minor to constitute a sell-off.
Has the government sold BTC in the past?
Yes. Before the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established, U.S. agencies periodically auctioned seized Bitcoin through the U.S. Marshals Service. Sales of Silk Road-linked Bitcoin and other forfeiture proceeds occurred multiple times between 2014 and 2024. The White House acknowledged this history in the Executive Order, noting that premature sales had cost taxpayers over $17 billion in unrealized gains.
However, those sales took place under a fundamentally different policy regime. The March 2025 Executive Order was specifically designed to end the practice of liquidating seized Bitcoin and to treat it instead as a strategic national reserve asset.
The bottom line
The claim that the U.S. Government is selling its seized Bitcoin is mostly false. While on-chain data confirms that small amounts of forfeited BTC have been transferred to Coinbase Prime in April 2026, these movements represent routine custodial operations — not evidence of an active sell-off. The current policy framework, established by President Trump’s March 2025 Executive Order, explicitly prohibits the sale of Bitcoin held in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
No comprehensive audit of government Bitcoin holdings has been conducted, and current estimates rely on flagged wallets identified by Arkham Intelligence. Until such an audit is completed, some ambiguity around the precise disposition of all government-held digital assets will remain. But based on the available evidence, the narrative that Washington is dumping its Bitcoin is not supported by the facts.
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