The U.S. government has sent roughly $1.5 billion in Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime over three days. On-chain trackers flagged the transfers just as Bitcoin slid 6.9%, and traders are asking wheth
The U.S. government has sent roughly $1.5 billion in Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime over three days. On-chain trackers flagged the transfers just as Bitcoin slid 6.9%, and traders are asking whether Washington is selling. Nobody has confirmed that.
Lookonchain reports that wallets tied to the U.S. government deposited 17,733 BTC (about $1.48B) and 750 WBTC (about $62M) into Coinbase Prime across three days. Coinbase Prime is the exchange’s institutional trading and custody arm, and federal agencies such as the US Marshals Service have used it before to hold and handle seized crypto.
This is insane!The U.S. government just transferred out another 12,267 $BTC ($1.01B).https://t.co/esJntewKzzhttps://t.co/sLXScezBrBpic.twitter.com/U64EA8AJwp
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 8, 2026
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Is Bitfinex about to get its BTC back? As of Oct 5, the US Government held 115K $BTC seized from the Bitfinex hacker.None has left government custody until 17K $BTC tied to the hack moved internally in the past 7 days.Bitfinex's claim is still pending in court. https://t.co/D83Eh9SLqjpic.twitter.com/M2NDfp9wha
— Emmett Gallic (@emmettgallic) October 8, 2026
The coins most likely come from seizures: the Bitfinex hack, Silk Road, and the Prince Group case. According to Arkham’s entity profile, the government still holds about 306,795 BTC worth $25.32B, plus smaller amounts of ETH, WBNB, and stablecoins. The wallet total has fallen from a peak above $40B to about $25B, mostly because crypto prices have dropped.
A March 2025 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve says Bitcoin deposited into the reserve should not be sold, while allowing certain court-ordered distributions and victim restitution.
That policy provides context, but it does not disclose whether these particular coins entered the reserve or explain the purpose of the October 8 transfer.
Large seizures and recovery efforts have also made asset custody a recurring issue in crypto cases, from the tracing and seizure of crypto linked to major hacks to the handling of Bitcoin connected to alleged fraud.
Bitcoin U.S. Government arkm
A deposit is not a sale. Moving coins to Coinbase Prime could mean custody changes, seizure processing, or an actual sell order. The government has given no statement and no motive. A March 2025 executive order set up the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and bars sales of its coins, except to compensate victims, so any selling would need to fall under that exception.
The timing is what rattled the market. Bitcoin dropped 6.9% in the same window and briefly touched about $80,500, with roughly $1.14B in liquidations, around $930M of them from long positions. Large exchange deposits often raise fears of selling pressure, and leveraged traders get squeezed when prices break key levels. But other pressures were at work too: a 5.34% Treasury yield, a stronger dollar, and rising oil prices. Cryptonews concludes that an unconfirmed sale isn’t a sound standalone explanation for the drop.
For now, the transfers are a signal to watch, not proof of selling. Confirmation would come from an official statement, further outflows from the exchange, or a visible move in order-book pressure.
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