US Government Moves $33.6M Crypto Seized from FTX

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As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the financial industry, I find myself intrigued by the recent moves made by the US government in the cryptocurrency market. The timing and magnitude of these transactions are raising eyebrows, especially considering their coincidence with a broader market rally.

As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed some intriguing activity in the market lately. It appears that the US government has made a move by transferring a substantial amount of cryptocurrencies they had seized earlier. These assets, originally belonging to the collapsed FTX exchange and Alameda trading firm, worth approximately $33.6 million across various cryptos, have been moved to two unidentified digital wallets, as reported by blockchain intelligence platform Arkham.

Government Transfers $18M in Ethereum

The transaction took place on December 3, involving a strategic sequence of transactions, in which the government transferred around $18 million worth of ETH (approximately 5,024 ETH, currently valued at $3,739 each) to two accounts with cryptic identifiers “0x9cd” and “0x9ac”. This transfer wasn’t limited to Ethereum; approximately $13 million in Binance USD and $1.5 million in Shiba Inu (currently valued at around 0.000031 SHIB each) were also moved, along with various other tokens. The total value of transactions within the past 24 hours was about $45.15 billion for Ethereum, $3.23 billion for Shiba Inu, and the market caps stood at $450.56 billion for Ethereum and $17.98 billion for Shiba Inu. The volatility within the past 24 hours was 3.7% for Ethereum, 5.0% for Shiba Inu.

The coordination of these actions sparked curiosity since they aligned with a broader market surge. Ethereum experienced a small increase of 3.10% within a day, pushing its price up to $3,721, representing a substantial rise from $2,460, which it was only at a month ago. Notably, the on-chain volume for Ethereum in November reached an impressive $183.74 billion – the highest figure recorded this year so far.

The rise in this area is thought to be primarily due to capital shifting positions, with investors transferring funds from centralized exchanges towards on-chain activities. This movement along the risk spectrum has sparked intrigue and speculation about the government’s crypto asset transfers, leading analysts to ponder the underlying reasons for these transactions.

US Moves $2B Bitcoin from Silk Road

The day prior to these Ethereum transactions, a significant event took place involving Bitcoin. A wallet associated with the US moved approximately $2 billion worth of Bitcoin. This transaction divided 19,800 BTC between two separate wallets: one received an amount equating to 10,000 BTC, valued at around $969 million, and the other received 9,800 BTC, which was equivalent to roughly $949 million at the time.

ATTENTION: The U.S. Government is Transferring 1.92 Billion Dollars worth of Bitcoin to a New Wallet Address

— Arkham (@arkham) December 2, 2024

The Bitcoins under consideration are connected to the confiscation of the Silk Road, an infamous dark web bazaar established by Ross Ulbricht. Previously, Arkham had noted a comparable transaction occurring in July when the U.S. distributed $2 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from Silk Road across multiple addresses.

Arkham did not disclose the reason for this recent Bitcoin transaction, but suggested that it could be a deposit made to an institutional custody or service, possibly referring to the movement in July. Previously, it was known that the U.S. Marshals Service uses Coinbase for its custodial services.

On December 4th, it’s been reported that the U.S. government allegedly owns more than 198,000 Bitcoins, currently valued at approximately $19.2 billion. This substantial hoard has sparked discussions once again about the nation’s approach to managing its digital currency assets.

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2024-12-04 14:45