On Wednesday, August 14, a second transfer of Bitcoin originally confiscated from the notorious Silk Road by the US Government has caused widespread speculation. Arkham, a blockchain analytics company, reported yesterday that 10,000 Silk Road BTC valued at $593.5m were transferred from Coinbase Prime to Coinbase Prime. This platform is used by institutional investors.
Arkham Asylum’s Official Website post X – 10,000 Silk Road Bitcoins ($593.5M), moved from Silk Road to Coinbase Prime. Last week, wallet bc1ql was sent 10K BTC by a well-known US Government wallet. The BTC was just sent to Coinbase Prime Deposit wallet 33J.”
What is the US government doing with Bitcoin?
It follows a recent announcement by the US Marshals Service part of Department of Justice detailing a new partnership between Coinbase Prime and the USMS to provide advanced trading services, as well as custody for their agency. “Class 1” (large cap) digital assets. There is a split in the community over whether or not these actions signify a sale of Bitcoins, as opposed to merely transferring them for custody. Many people speculated, therefore, that the US government was not selling.
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Scott Johnsson however, is an attorney and partner in Van Buren Capital. expressed Today, there is a different view. It says that this transaction signifies a sale definitive of the seized assets By the US Government. Johnsson remarked:
“Yes, US Marshal Service (USMS) is almost certainly selling silk road Bitcoin […] USMS has been sending BTC to a custodial address required by the terms of the servicing agreement […] Given the agreement requires USMS assets remain completely segregated, whenever a transfer is ultimately made to CB prime (or other commingled exchange address), you can be sure USMS has already sold or is selling imminently.”
Johnsson also supported his claim with a reference to the DOJ Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Report and the RFP for crypto services, both of which specify the need to liquidate assets quickly within five days of forfeiture.
The following is a list of states that are governed by the Constitution: “The USMS intends to resolve this issue using its planned cryptocurrency services contract, which will require the contractor to liquidate cryptocurrency within 5 business days of the asset being forfeited.”
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Johnsson expects the DOJ Asset Forfeiture Program’s FY2024 Report to reveal the formal confirmations of these sales in January. The unfolding of events may provide an earlier indication as new details are made available via official channels, or by subsequent movements.
“Official confirmation will definitively come (at the latest) upon the DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture Program FY2024 report in January, if not earlier. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence this began in earnest following the Trump speech.”
On X, users expressed confusion about Johnsson’s analysis. Rodeo queried: “These coins were supposed to be sold by the end of last year[…] You’re saying the act of transferring these coins to Coinbase from their current address is enough to imply selling because the Coinbase addresses are not completely segregated addresses?”
Johnsson responded to this concern by clarifying: “Not necessarily Coinbase alone (there’s an interim segregated custody step), but once they hit commingled addresses it’s reasonable to infer they’re sold. And yea, there was a backlog of forfeited BTC that was supposed to be sold already. Finalizing the services agreement appears to have been (at least part of) the hold up.”
The latest BTC transactions by the US Government come just weeks after Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed to establish a “strategic national Bitcoin stockpile” At the Bitcoin 2024 Conference. Rumors spread that Democrats, led by Kamalah Harris, could clear the BTC assets of the US government. Harris pleads Based on her latest actions, many experts reject this claim.
BTC was trading at $59.336 as of the time this article went to press.
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Source: www.newsbtc.com
