US Government Transfers $240 Million in Bitcoin

On June 26, a cryptocurrency wallet associated with the US government transferred 3,940 BTC (approximately $240 million) to the exchange Coinbase Prime, according to analysts at Arkham Intelligence.

Update: US Government Sends $240M BTC to Coinbase Prime

The US Government just moved 3,940 BTC ($240M) to Coinbase Prime.

This BTC was originally seized from narcotics trafficker Banmeet Singh, and forfeited at trial in January 2024.

Transaction: https://t.co/hZ1CwqWCmF pic.twitter.com/9t6k8Wdizq

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) June 26, 2024

Researchers indicate these funds were seized from drug trafficker Banmeet Singh in May.

The seizure was conducted as part of a court proceeding in January. The Indian national pleaded guilty to selling narcotics on darknet marketplaces and agreed to forfeit $150 million. From 2012 to 2017, he operated on now-defunct platforms like Silk Road, Alpha Bay, Hansa, and others, accepting cryptocurrency as payment.

According to a tracker by Casa co-founder and CTO Jameson Lopp, the US has confiscated and sold a total of 195,091 BTC for $366.4 million since 2014, with an average price per coin of approximately $1,878.5.

Given the current exchange rate, the US government potentially missed out on $11.5 billion in profits.

At the time of writing, a government-associated address holds 213,546 BTC valued at nearly $13 billion.

Previously, Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey accused the US of squandering bitcoins. He claimed the country’s initial cryptocurrency reserves should have exceeded 400,000 BTC, but instead, Democrats sold a significant portion of the assets at a low price.

In January, the United States announced plans to sell 2,875 BTC seized from Silk Road darknet marketplace drug traffickers Ryan Farace and Shaun Bridges.

In early April, a wallet controlled by US authorities initiated a transfer of ~2,000 BTC to a Coinbase Prime address.

Recently, the transfer followed the sale of 595.3 BTC worth ~$36.65 million by the German government. These coins were reportedly seized by law enforcement in January from administrators of the pirate movie site Movie2k.