Key Takeaways
- The US government moved $2 billion in Bitcoin tied to Silk Road.
- Trump pledged to create a national Bitcoin stockpile and stop selling seized Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin's price dropped by over 2% after the transfer news.
The United States government has transferred over $2 billion worth of seized Bitcoin linked to the Silk Road dark web marketplace to an unidentified wallet, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence.
This move follows former President Donald Trump’s recent announcement at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville. Trump, the Republican candidate for this year’s presidential election, vowed to establish a national “strategic Bitcoin stockpile” and to cease selling seized Bitcoin if he is elected.
The U.S. Department of Justice has not commented on whether the transferred Bitcoin will be sold. This uncertainty spooked investors, causing Bitcoin’s price to drop by over 2% within an hour, according to CoinGecko. After briefly reaching $70,000 per coin on Monday morning Eastern Time, Bitcoin’s price fell to $66,845, trading below its 2021 all-time high of $69,044.
The transfer sparked reactions on Twitter, with Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz criticizing the timing:
Tone deaf anyone??? Moving Silk Road BTC two days after Trump’s pledge to not move them is just dumb!!!!
However, venture capitalist Adam Cochran suggested that the move might not indicate an intent to sell, noting that the U.S. Marshals Service recently awarded Coinbase Prime a contract to manage and dispose of its large-cap cryptocurrency assets.
Historically, the U.S. government holds and occasionally moves Bitcoin seized from criminals, sometimes selling it. Such moves often impact the market, as seen when Germany’s Bitcoin transfer to exchanges last month caused a temporary price dip.
The transferred Bitcoin was seized from Silk Road, a notorious online black market shut down by authorities in 2014.
