U.S. Government Moves To Sell More Bitcoin Tied To Silk Road

The United States authorities may be selling more of the nation’s 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 authorities to sell portions of their stash.
• Shortly afterward, the 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 US 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 disposal of 9,861 BTC in March 2023 preceded a 25% surge in BTC’s price before the DOJ could officially announce the sale had been made.