Wallets linked to the U.S. government moved 12,267 bitcoin $BTC$81,274.45, worth about $1.01 billion, on Thursday, according to data provided by blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.
The coins left a wallet holding funds seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack and went to a new, unlabeled address, with a second transaction going to a different address. No exchange deposit was recorded, a pattern more consistent with wallet reshuffling than a sale.
The transfer follows heavier exchange-bound activity 24 hours earlier, when roughly 3,200 $BTC (about $264 million) and $119 million in USDT landed at Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. The funds came from wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures, according to Arkham’s identification.
CoinDesk reported on Wednesday that more than $100 million in $BTC and BNB moved in a similar fashion. In July, about $288 million in seized bitcoin and ether was routed to Coinbase Prime via fresh intermediary wallets.
Deposits to Coinbase Prime don’t necessarily indicate a sale because the platform also provides custody. A March 2025 executive order directed forfeited bitcoin into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and said it should not be sold. The government still holds about $25.5 billion worth of crypto, Arkham shows.
