US Moves $1B Bitcoin Tied to Bitfinex Hack; No Sale
U.S. government moves $1 billion in bitcoin tied to Bitfinex hack, with no sign of sale
Wallets linked to the U.S. government moved 12,267 bitcoin worth about $1.01 billion from a wallet holding funds seized in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.
The bitcoin was sent to new, unlabeled addresses, split across two transactions. Arkham’s data did not show the funds being deposited to an exchange, a pattern that typically points to wallet reshuffling rather than an immediate sale.
The transfers follow a separate bout of exchange-adjacent activity a day earlier. Roughly 3,200 BTC (about $264 million) and $119 million in USDT were sent to Coinbase Prime deposit addresses, with Arkham identifying the sources as wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures.
Even in those cases, deposits to Coinbase Prime are not definitive evidence of selling. Coinbase Prime provides custody services as well as trading infrastructure, meaning transfers can reflect changes in storage or operational handling rather than market sales.
The latest $1 billion move matters because U.S. government-controlled wallets represent a sizable pool of seized crypto, and large transfers are closely watched for potential market impact. In this instance, the lack of an exchange deposit suggests the movement was administrative, not liquidation.
- What happened: 12,267 BTC from a Bitfinex hack seizure wallet moved to new, unlabeled addresses.
- What did not happen: Arkham data showed no transfer into an exchange wallet.
- Broader context: About $383 million in BTC and USDT reached Coinbase Prime deposit addresses the day before, but such deposits can also be custody-related.
