The United States government may be selling more of its massive Bitcoin (BTC) stash, potentially piling more sell pressure onto the crypto market, according to blockchain data.
On-chain sleuth ZachXBT noted on Tuesday that government controlled Bitcoin tied to Silk Road initiated a small transaction to Coinbase – the crypto exchange previously used by the government to sell its coins.
Shortly afterwards, the government’s wallet transferred 1999 BTC to Coinbase Prime, worth $139 million at the time.
The government’s main address for its Silk Road Bitcoin now holds 29,799 BTC, worth $1.96 billion at writing time.
The government first seized over 50,000 BTC connected to Silk Road in late 2021 from the marketplace’s hacker, James Zhong. It began selling those coins incrementally last year, last including a 9000 BTC sale in July 2023.
The government’s sales have thus far had little visible effect on Bitcoin’s price movements. In fact, its first sale of 9,861 BTC in March 2023 preceded a 25% surge in Bitcoin’s price before the DOJ could officially announce the sale had been made.
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