Author: Martin Young, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Bai Shui, Jinse Finance
Crypto industry executives quickly pointed out that the U.S. government's decision to transfer $1.9 billion worth of Bitcoin to Coinbase is foolish, with some calling it a "huge strategic mistake."
"This is a huge strategic mistake. On December 3, U.S. Space Force engineer Jason Lowery stated on X: 'It makes no sense for the U.S. to sell Bitcoin under its control at any price.'"
"They don't know what they have, that much is clear," he continued:
"When they inevitably try to justify the new version of EO 6102 to recover the Bitcoins they sold due to misunderstanding the true meaning of this technology, remember this article."
EO 6102 is an executive order signed by President Roosevelt in 1933, "prohibiting the hoarding of gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates in the United States."
On December 2, the U.S. government transferred approximately 19,800 Bitcoins, worth $1.9 billion at the time, to a deposit address at Coinbase Prime.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong agreed and added, "I agree—In my opinion, the U.S. government should never sell Bitcoin."
Brian Armstrong agreed that selling Bitcoin is a bad idea. Source: Brian Armstrong
"If they are foolish enough to sell (we all know the government is foolish), then the supply will be exhausted immediately," said cryptocurrency educator Toby Cunningham, while others joked, "Biden will cause as much damage as possible before leaving office."
So far this year, the U.S. government has transferred a total of 25,999 Bitcoins to Coinbase, worth about $2.49 billion. However, according to observations from analysis platform Spot On Chain, these transfers appear to be custodial actions rather than sales.
Tether strategic advisor Gabor Gurbacs also stated that the U.S. government could be consolidating wallets or upgrading old addresses.
"There is still a lot we don't know. There is no guarantee they will sell. I haven't seen any official auction information," he added.
CryptoQuant research director Julio Moreno stated, "It is highly likely" that only 10,000 BTC were sold in the recent market trends, as these were sent to Coinbase Prime, with the remaining 9,800 BTC sent to newly created addresses.
The platform revealed that, according to Spot on Chain, the U.S. government still holds approximately 183,850 Bitcoins across various known addresses, worth about $1.77 billion.
Cryptocurrency balances on known addresses of the U.S. government. Source: Spot On Chain
The Bitcoin price dropped significantly during the transfer, falling nearly 3% to $94,500. However, as of the time of writing, the asset's trading price has recovered to around $96,000.
