According to blockchain data and intelligence provider Glassnode, wallet addresses associated with US government law enforcement seizures since mid-Feb are moving around 40,000 BTC.
While most of the transactions are just going back and forth between wallets, Glassnode said that 9,861 BTC was transferred to Coinbase exchange, equivalent to nearly 214 million USD. It is not clear what the purpose of the transfers were, nor whether these Bitcoins were sold.
The US government has seized large amounts of cryptocurrencies, which have been seen as evidence of fraud and attack cases in the crypto space. In 2013, the FBI shut down the Silk Road black market and seized 144,000 BTC.
In Feb 2022, the US Department of Justice announced that it had found the hacker after the Bitfinex hack in 2016 and seized all 94,000 BTC. By Nov 2022, US officials continue to seize another 50,000 BTC from an individual accused of attacking Silk Road.
US authorities have repeatedly held auctions to sell BTC but have never recorded such a direct transfer of Bitcoin to the exchange. Therefore, this news is causing a stir in the crypto community, especially when creditors of crypto exchange Mt. Gox are about to recover some of their funds following a 10-year liquidation process.