On July 29, on-chain data from Arkham revealed that the US government unexpectedly transferred nearly 29,800 Bitcoins, worth about $2.02 billion, to a new address for an unknown purpose. This is part of the Bitcoins that US authorities seized from the black market Silk Road.
Some joked that the move could be in preparation for Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the US, or to transfer to the new custodian, Coinbase, as agreed in early July.
The last time US government Bitcoin wallets made a transaction was on July 23, with a total value of $3.96 million. At the end of June, US authorities transferred $243 million to Coinbase wallets. Previously, in April, the US also transferred $2.1 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from Silk Road.
Based on data from Arkham, the US currently holds about 183,500 BTC, equivalent to $12.3 billion, along with many other cryptocurrencies in smaller amounts. According to information from Coinstrategists, the US government remains the country with the largest amount of crypto, mainly due to seizures from criminal activities.
Bitcoin price immediately dropped from $70,000, set a few hours ago, to $66,400 following the news, on the occasion of the 100th day since the halving event. BTC recovered from $63,400 on July 25, overcoming pressure from Mt. Gox, the German government’s $3 billion Bitcoin sale, and supportive comments from US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The sudden drop led to nearly $100 million in derivatives liquidations in the past 4 hours, with the majority belonging to long positions, accounting for 97%.