The U.S. government’s movement of 12,267 BTC, valued at approximately $1.01 billion, sent bitcoin seized from the 2016 Bitfinex hack to new, unlabeled wallets. The transfers, reported on October 8, 2026, showed no evidence of a sale and appeared more consistent with a reshuffling of wallets.
According to CoinDesk, which cited Arkham data, the bitcoin left a wallet containing funds seized in connection with the hack. One transaction went to a new address, and a second went to a different address. No deposit to an exchange was recorded for those transfers.
The activity followed transfers to Coinbase Prime addresses roughly 24 hours earlier. Those deposits totaled about 3,200 BTC, worth approximately $264 million, alongside $119 million in USDT. Arkham traced the transferred funds to wallets associated with the Bitfinex and FTX/Alameda seizures.
Coinbase Prime provides custody services as well as access to trading. Deposits into its wallets therefore do not, on their own, establish that the assets were sold. That distinction applies to the earlier deposits, separately from the bitcoin sent to unlabeled addresses.
U.S. government bitcoin movements and reserve policy
A March 2025 executive order directs forfeited bitcoin into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve rather than allowing it to be sold. The reported wallet movements showed no evidence of a sale; moving the assets between addresses is not itself evidence of disposal.
Arkham’s data put the U.S. government’s cryptocurrency holdings at approximately $25.5 billion.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
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