Overnight, an address associated with the US government moved over $1 billion in Bitcoin. Does this announce the upcoming sale of the 49,000 BTC concerned?
The US government moves nearly 50,000 Bitcoins (BTC)
Last night, several on-chain analysis companies identified movements on a Bitcoin (BTC) address affiliated with the US government, and more specifically the Department of Justice. In total, these movements represent the movement of just over 49,000 BTC, or about $1.08 billion at present:
Figure 1 – Department of Justice Address Transactions
Therefore, it is appropriate to question the nature of these movements and if this can be a harbinger of a sale.
At the moment, the market does not seem to have particularly reacted to the news, although the price of BTC continues to slide slightly lower, since the 5% drop last Friday:
Figure 2 – BTC price in H4 data
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BTC seized in Silk Road case
In reality, these BTC would correspond to seizures made in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 regarding the Silk Road casea now closed black market that operated on the dark web.
As for the main movement, namely a transaction of 40,000 BTC, Glassnode reported that 9,861 of them had been redirected to the Coinbase platformwhich roughly corresponds to a value of $217.7 million:
For more information on the specific seizure that relates to these coins, please refer to this report.https://t.co/706DvnZXT2
The relevant transaction depositing these funds to coinbase can be found here.https://t.co/afisb9nyFF
We will keep an eye on these funds moving about.
— glassnode (@glassnode) March 7, 2023
At the time of writing these lines, no further movement seemed to have occurred on the BTC in question. Although it is debatable whether the share sent to Coinbase could be sold soon.
This could then apply a selling pressure on the price, but note that if this transaction is certainly significant, it’s not new though. Last year, for example, Tesla admitted to having disposed of more than $900 million of Bitcoin during the second quarter.
Thus, although these movements are significant and deserve to be underlined, they should be put into perspective. Even if the US government decides to liquidate all of these assets, nothing obliges him to do it in a single transaction. Over-the-counter (OTC) means of exchange could also be used, or even auctions.
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Source: TradingView, Blockchain.com
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I timidly discovered the world of blockchain at the end of 2018 during my quest for financial freedom. Initially invested moderately, it was only two years later that I took the gamble of betting everything on the movement that was taking shape then. I then dedicate 2021 to training myself better to acquire more knowledge and seriousness. As I often like to say: I still have a billion things to learn. And what I do know, I want to share with you.
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