The US government deposited $288.33 million worth of Bitcoin and Ether into Coinbase Prime on Monday, drawn from three separate criminal forfeitures, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
The largest transfer came from an address labelled as Ryan Farace seized funds, which sent 2,875 BTC worth roughly $177.88 million. The coins passed through an intermediate address before landing in a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet about an hour later.
A second transfer moved 925.5 BTC, worth around $57.27 million, from funds seized in the BTC-e case. A third sent 30,007 ETH, worth approximately $53.09 million, from the Brian Krewson forfeiture. An earlier transfer on Monday had already moved 140.2 BTC, worth about $8.78 million, into Coinbase Prime custody.
The movement is visible in the government’s balances. Arkham data shows US government Bitcoin holdings falling from roughly 328,352 BTC to 324,552 BTC, a decline of about 3,800 coins that matches the Farace and BTC-e transfers combined. Ether holdings dropped from 58,401 to 28,394, a fall of precisely the 30,007 tokens sent from the Krewson case.
Total US government crypto holdings now stand near $20.48 billion, with Bitcoin accounting for roughly $20.16 billion of that.
The Farace Bitcoin Was Already Marked for Sale
The Farace tranche carries a history that separates it from the rest. Ryan Farace, who operated on dark web marketplaces under the alias Xanaxman, was convicted in 2018 of manufacturing and selling counterfeit Xanax. His father, Joseph Farace, was later convicted of laundering and moving Bitcoin proceeds destined for federal forfeiture.
The Justice Department ultimately recovered 2,933 BTC from the pair. On January 10, 2024, the government filed a forfeiture notice stating its intent to dispose of the forfeited property as the attorney general may direct, opening a 60-day window for third parties to claim an interest.
A first tranche of 58.74 BTC moved to Coinbase in July 2024. The 2,875 BTC that moved on Monday accounts for almost exactly the remainder of the recovered stash, meaning the coins now sitting in Coinbase Prime are the same ones the government told a court, more than two years ago, that it intended to sell.
That notice predates the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve by 14 months.
What the Reserve Policy Says
Executive Order 14233, signed on March 6, 2025, established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and directed that Bitcoin deposited into it shall not be sold but maintained as a reserve asset of the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reaffirmed in January that the administration would halt sales of seized Bitcoin.
The order is not absolute. It permits government digital assets to be disposed of under Treasury authority, court orders, victim restitution, law enforcement needs, or other asset forfeiture requirements. Whether a disposal notice filed before the reserve existed survives the order is a question the government has not publicly resolved.
It is not a hypothetical one. The Crypto Times reported in January that Bitcoin forfeited by Samourai Wallet’s founders was routed to a Coinbase Prime address for sale, with Arkham subsequently showing that address at a zero balance. Senator Cynthia Lummis objected publicly, questioning why the government was liquidating Bitcoin despite an order directing its preservation.
The Ether Sits Under Different Rules
The Krewson transfer is the least ambiguous of the three. The same executive order created a separate US Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin holdings, governed by more flexible rules that expressly permit disposal.
Ether falls into that category and carries no no-sale protection. Krewson, according to the Justice Department, helped store and launder $54 million in cryptocurrency for two convicted drug traffickers. The Crypto Times reported a smaller transfer of seized Krewson assets—Chainlink, Uniswap, and Cronos tokens—to Coinbase Prime in May.
A Deposit Is Still Not a Sale
Coinbase Prime serves as both custodian and trading venue. The US Marshals Service selected the platform in 2024 to provide custody and advanced trading services for large-cap digital assets, which means a deposit there can reflect custody consolidation as easily as sale preparation.
The pattern has produced false alarms before. Seized FTX-linked Chainlink moved to Coinbase Prime in June, and seized Alameda altcoins in May; neither became a confirmed sale. The government has also been consolidating scattered seized holdings under Treasury administration as the executive order requires—a process made more urgent by reports that the Marshals Service was investigating a possible breach of government digital-asset accounts.
What distinguishes Monday’s transfers is scale and provenance. Three unrelated forfeiture cases moved within hours of each other, and the largest of them concerns coins the Justice Department has already declared its intent to sell. Neither Treasury nor the Marshals Service has commented.
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