On Tuesday (December 3), Bitcoin fell below $96,000 and remained weak, dipping as low as $94,395. The U.S. government will transfer $1.9 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from Silk Road to a Coinbase Prime wallet, triggering panic selling. However, Wall Street's largest listed giant MicroStrategy insists on its strategy, spending another $1.5 billion to buy more Bitcoin.
In the downward trend of Bitcoin, according to CoinGlass data, the total liquidation amount in the cryptocurrency market reached $547 million in the past 24 hours, with long positions liquidating $360 million and short positions liquidating $179 million, affecting over 190,000 people.
According to data from blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence, on Monday, wallets linked to the U.S. government transferred approximately 19,800 Bitcoins to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet address. These Bitcoins were seized during the investigation of James Zhong in 2021, who was later convicted of telecommunications fraud related to the Silk Road market.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in 2022 that it had seized over 50,000 Bitcoins from Zhong, including 'coins stored in a wallet on a single-board computer, which was placed under a blanket inside a popcorn jar.' Since then, the U.S. government has moved many Bitcoins to different wallets, but currently, it still holds about $18 billion worth of Bitcoin.
It is still unclear whether the transfer of these Bitcoins is part of a government transaction or a strategy to sell these funds. U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Cynthia Lummis and elected President Donald Trump, have suggested establishing a 'Bitcoin National Strategic Reserve' through legislation.
The U.S. Marshals Service (the federal agency responsible for seizing cryptocurrencies and other assets involved in criminal activities) stated in July that it would collaborate with Coinbase Prime to manage tokens related to asset forfeiture. Coinbase is still facing a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC in June 2023.
At its peak, the Silk Road market facilitated user transactions worth millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies, allowing users to purchase illegal items such as weapons, drugs, and stolen credit card information. The platform's founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015.
Since the 2024 U.S. presidential election, many in the cryptocurrency industry have called for Trump to reduce Ulbricht's sentence. Trump promised to do so 'on the first day in office,' but it is worth noting that he had the opportunity to do this during his first term.
Despite the panic selling triggered by the U.S. government, Wall Street's listed giants continue to adhere to a buying strategy, providing support to the crypto market.
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor tweeted again as Bitcoin briefly dipped below $96,000, announcing that MicroStrategy had bought 15,400 Bitcoins at an average price of $95,976 with $1.5 billion in funds.
Saylor wrote, 'MicroStrategy has acquired 15,400 Bitcoins for approximately $1.5 billion at a price of about $95,976 per Bitcoin, achieving a year-to-date Bitcoin yield of 38.7% and 63.3% since the beginning of the year. As of December 2, 2024, we have acquired 402,100 Bitcoins for about $23.4 billion, at an average price of about $58,263 per Bitcoin.'
Bitcoin Technical Analysis
Economies.com states that Bitcoin is trading with a clear negative sentiment, attacking the support line of the bullish channel and attempting to stay below it, suggesting that the remainder of the day will turn downward, paving the way to $94,655, followed by a major negative stand at the $91,852.35 level.
Therefore, unless the price successfully breaks through $96,325 and remains above that level, the future trading days will show a bearish tendency.
The current expected trading range is between the support level of $93,500 and the resistance level of $97,000.
