- Crypto whales are in season again, with this time the US Government transferring over AU $3b worth of BTC to an anonymous wallet.
- It’s believed the recipient is Coinbase, who is taking over custody of some of the United States’ Class 1 Assets – including crypto holdings.
- The digital assets are over a decade old, having been seized during the raid of online black market Silk Road in 2013.
- Some in the community aren’t convinced the transaction is a simple custody transfer.
As you may know, we’re a big fan of whale spotting here at CryptoNewsAustralia. As fascinating as it is to just sit back and watch, observing crypto whales can provide valuable insight on investor sentiment at a given point in time.
Earlier today, the whale of all whales breached the surface for the first time in years as part of a US $2b (AU $3.05b) on-chain transaction. The mammal responsible?
The US Government.
Related: Kamala Harris Announces Plans to Reset Democrats’ Relationship with US Crypto Industry
More Than 100,000 BTC Seized Over a Decade Ago
US authorities had been in control of 29,800 BTC following a raid and seizure of assets on the Silk Road website back in 2013. The platform was an online black marketplace that facilitated what you’d expect to find on the dark web – drugs, weapons and so on.
After an investigation from the FBI, Silk Road was taken down, and approximately 144K BTC (worth US $30m at the time) were taken.
Although most of the BTC seized over a decade ago had been sold, the US Government still held onto a decent chunk of the digital asset – until yesterday.
A Malevolent Scheme or a Simple Change-Up of Custody?
News outlet Bitcoin Magazine picked up the US Government’s public wallet making a massive transaction, sending 29,799.99 BTC to an unknown wallet address.
Speculation quickly mounted that the move was a private Democratic sell-off, coming in response to politicians like Trump endorsing a strategic Bitcoin reserve if he gets in power.
Others believe it was simply a malevolent move from Joe Biden to stamp his authority on the pro-crypto movement from certain opponents.
Another in the community insinuated the sale was due to raising funds for the Ukraine–Russo war.
Of course, the over-politicisation of crypto has left some people a little more paranoid than usual. In reality, as Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart speculates, the transaction is most likely a simple transfer of custody. The recipient of the BTC appears to be crypto exchange Coinbase, which will begin storing and trading the assets steadily throughout the next five years.
Related: University of Wyoming Reveals Plans to Open Bitcoin Research Institute
Just a few days ago, Coinbase announced a custodial partnership with the US Marshal Service.
Despite the reasonable rationale for the US Government’s “dump”, Bitcoin fell on the news, down 2% over the last 24 hours.
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