A wallet tied to the US government has recently transferred $33 million worth of cryptocurrencies to two unidentified addresses. These funds are part of the assets seized from defunct exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research.
It’s unclear whether the authorities will sell part of their holdings. The US government isn’t especially open about its plans, which could drive market uncertainty.
According to data tracked by analysis platform Arkham Intelligence, the government-labeled wallet sent multiple altcoins to new addresses on December 3. The list includes some major coins like ETH, SHIB, BUSD, and WBTC, among others.
More FTX Fun!
Specifically, the wallet sent the first batch of 4,815 ETH worth over $17 million to a wallet starting with “0x9AcA,” followed by the second batch of over 209 ETH to a wallet starting with “0x9cdB8,” totaling $18 million. The government also transferred $13.05 million worth of BUSD and $1.55 million worth of SHIB.
The reasons behind the recent wallet activities are entirely unknown. There’s a possibility that the transfers could be to provide restitution to individuals or entities that suffered financial losses due to fraudulent activities associated with Sam Bankman-Fried-founded entities. This could also be part of the authorities’ strategy to manage seized assets.
The government-controlled wallet has been dormant for several months, but it recently engaged in multiple transactions, including withdrawals from the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave.
In late October, the US government reportedly transferred over $20 million in USDC and USDT, from a wallet containing seized funds from the 2016 Bitfinex hack to a new wallet.
Like others, the reasons behind these transactions are unclear. Some speculate that the government may be reorganizing the seized funds, potentially for distribution to victims or for other legal purposes.
Big Moves
On Monday, the US authorities transferred around 20,000 BTC, valued at approximately $1.92 billion, to an unknown wallet. The move sparked controversy, with some community members concerned that the government might look to sell Bitcoin.
The Bitcoins involved in this transfer were originally seized during the crackdown on the Silk Road marketplace. The government still holds about 188,309 BTC, worth an estimated $18.12 billion, alongside other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and USDT.
The governments’ Bitcoin moves typically trigger a sudden drop in Bitcoin price. However, the flagship cryptocurrency often recovers briefly after the correction.
Bitcoin dropped below $95,500 after the news broke, according to CoinGecko data. It quickly surged back above $96,000.
Bitcoin recently experienced a brief dip to $93,600 following South Korea’s martial law declaration, but quickly recovered to trade above $96,000. However, Korean exchanges like Upbit witnessed a flash crash, with BTC/KRW prices plummeting 30% to $61,000.
The US government’s recent transfers of altcoins occurred during a market-wide rally. However, BTC looks stuck at the $100k level.
ETH gained 2.5% to $2,700 in the past day, but its price remains 24% below its all-time high of $4,800. While this recent uptick is positive, ETH’s performance has lagged behind other top cryptocurrencies.
Other leading cryptocurrencies already surged past their previous record highs and even established a new milestone. Solana (SOL) just established a new high of $263 last month amid optimism surrounding a potential Solana ETF.
Binance Coin (BNB) just jumped to a new all-time high of $771 on Tuesday. It is currently hovering around $763, up 17% in the last 24 hours.
Ripple (XRP), recently making headlines for its sharp rally, recorded 418% growth on its monthly chart. The surge is largely driven by expectation of a more favorable regulatory climate following the election of Donald Trump and other pro-crypto candidates.
This shift is expected to ease the legal pressures that Ripple has faced, particularly from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has been pursuing a lawsuit against Ripple since 2020 for allegedly selling XRP as an unregistered security.
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