Coinbase Receives Silk Road Bitcoin
US Government law enforcement has transferred some 50,000 Bitcoin seized from Silk Road hackers in the past two years. The Bitcoins are worth around $1 billion and are related to multiple US government wallets. On 8 March, addresses connected to US law enforcement transferred BTC to the second largest crypto exchange, Coinbase. Currently, some of the confiscated assets are on sale on the Coinbase exchange, while others were moved to new addresses.
The news has also triggered a dip in the price of BTC. Is the Bitcoin bull over?
Silk Road Bitcoin transfers
A blockchain analytical firm, PeckShield, has shared the details of the seized BTC transfers. According to the firm's data, a law enforcement office of the US Government made three transfers. More than 50,000 BTCs were in these wallets.
Among these transfers, most were internal. However, PeckShield pointed out that the US Government wallets transferred 9,861 Bitcoins to the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.
The law enforcement department also made two other transfers. One included the movement of more than 30,000 BTCs to a wallet bc1qf2…fsv. The second transfer involved around 9,000 BTCs moved to an address bc1qe7…rdg.
The firm also revealed that the US Government confiscated Bitcoins from a marketplace on the Silk Road. According to PeckShield, the agencies seized the unlawful assets in November 2021 and March 2022.
BTC transfer to Coinbase may trigger a sell-off
After the announcement of the transfer of seized BTCs to the Coinbase exchange, BTC prices dropped significantly. Usually, the increase in the inflow of an asset in the market results in high selling pressure. A high selling pressure means the asset price is going to decrease.
Source: CryptoQuant
This chart shows that the rise in BTC inflow has triggered the fall in its price. Though it does not indicate a continued sell-off in the market, it has certainly affected the current price. In the past 24 hours, the Bitcoin price dropped from $22,469 to just above $22,000.
Author: Wasay Ali
Wasay Ali is a versatile professional writer with global experience and a background in mechanical engineering and social science. He is adept at crafting news and informational content for the crypto space and has experience writing for other niches. He is a professional SEO content writer who has worked with several digital marketing agencies and clients in the US, UK, Pakistan, and Europe. He is a dedicated volunteer and enjoys reading, writing, poetry, and going to the gym. He is an INFJ-A personality type dedicated to positively impacting the world. Wasay has a passion for writing as it allows him to express his creativity, share his knowledge, and connect with people worldwide.