The United States government has stirred the crypto community by moving over $2 billion worth of Bitcoin from its Silk Road crypto stash.
The recent Onchain activity by the US government followed a speech by Donald Trump at the Bitcoin conference about his plans to halt the United States selling of its BTC assets if elected.
The Onchain activity by the US government also sparked speculations amongst the crypto community over fears of a potential sell-off of BTC assets by the US government. If this happens, the Price of Bitcoin will be affected.
The transaction by the US government was picked up by blockchain analyst firm Arkham Intelligence who alerted the crypto community with a post shared on their X page.
“BREAKING: The US. The government just moved $2B of Bitcoin to a new address: bc1qsl993y04xnq4fyhmrt6cnmctgjjv9ukdvrk0cd” Arkham tweeted.
Arkham also went further to describe that the transactions were made in two batches of $669 million and $1.33 billion. The funds according to Arkham were been moved to an institutional custodian with Coinbase being the most likely candidate due to its history with US government-linked wallets.
“ UPDATE: The U.S. Government has split the $2B Bitcoin into two addresses: 10,000 BTC ($669.35M): bc1qlap8hkt9genaljz5nt2zlehhudx63zlahr2zek 19,800 BTC ($1.33B): bc1qngydl7hmgdtmuqjmtsyj3pcwszv0yn5mj6kz4c We believe this represents a 10,000 BTC deposit to an institutional custody/service” Arkham added
Bitcoin declined about 1% following the transaction after it almost hit $70,000 for the first time since May.
Crypto Community Reacts to the Transaction
The crypto community especially Bitcoin enthusiasts showed concern about the recent move by the United States. The movement of over $2 billion in BTC assets points to a potential sell-off plan by the US government which created some negative sentiment in the market.
The development followed pro-bitcoin speeches and the promise by Donald Trump to Halt the sell-off of BTC assets owned by the US government if elected.
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini and one of the Winklevoss twins aired his opinion on the development pointing out the contradictory stance of the current US administration.
“ On Saturday,@realDonaldTrump pledged to never sell any of the US government’s bitcoin. Two days later, the Biden-Harris Administration moved $2 billion of Silk Road bitcoin. Great look and a great way to reset with our industry.” Tyler posted on X
How is Bitcoin faring at the moment?
At the time of the report, Bitcoin is exchanging hands for $66,552, a 4.3% drop in price in the last 24 hours with a maximum price of $69,907 and a minimum price of $65,911.
The crypto asset is down 9.5% from its all-time high of $73,737 which it hit on March 14.
What to Know
Bitcoin over the weeks has fully recovered from the selling pressure of the German government offloading about $50,000 BTC resulting in Bitcoin price falling as low as $54,000.
The current activity by the United States government has sparked speculations about another round of sell offs which could negatively impact the price of Bitcoin