US Government Transfers 3,940 Bitcoin to Crypto Exchange Coinbase
Arkham Intelligence reported a massive Bitcoin transfer. This Bitcoin reserve was confiscated from Banmeet Singh, who is a former drug-dealer and convicted after the 2024 trial.
Arkham Intelligence Report
However, the reserved Bitcoin was under the custody of the US government and has now been transferred to Coinbase Prime wallet. As per Arkham Intelligence, Singh was arrested by British officials in London in 2019.
He was charged with drug distribution and extradited to the United States in 2023. The Department of Justice stated that between 2012 and 2017, Singh was operating a narcotics syndicate with distribution stores operating in various states.
However, after his arrest, the authorities directed him to send 8,100 Bitcoin in his possession that were valued at around $150 million. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) noticed that crypto seized in this operation was the largest confiscation in the history of the agency.
Singh was sentenced to 5 years in April 2024 but has now released on account of time credit. The US government has been rumored to be in possession of large quantities of Bitcoin.
This idea has served as a source of FUD among Bitcoin investors who are afraid of unexpected sales and price fluctuations stemming from it. This FUD was intensified when the German government started selling their Bitcoin reserves valued at $2.7 billion at press time.
Bitcoin Price Devaluation
As per Cointelegraph the latest installment of 345 Bitcoin was sent to a wallet called Flow Traders on 26th June, 2024. This move created panic among investors who were expecting Bitcoin to gain further price momentum stemming from ETF inflows and halving impact.
Analysts speculated that the United States government also holds massive Bitcoin reserves t as per Arkham Intelligence data.
The estimated amount of Bitcoin under US government custody is said to be around 214,000 units. This reserve is valued at around $13 billion making states the biggest holder of the token. Another massive Bitcoin sell-off is expected to be initiated from the Mt.Gox exchange.
The now bankrupt institution is in possession of 140,000 Bitcoins that are to reimburse its customers who were locked out of their funds in 2014 after its collapse.
As per data projections, the Bitcoin holdings of the defunct platform now stand at all-time lows in the last 6 years. This phenomenon has led to price-stabilization of selling pressure by off-setting the selling pressure.
Germany has also undertaken massive Bitcoin sales recently. As per the article, the BKA labeled digital wallet recently sold Bitcoins valued at $54 million. Starting from 25th June, 2024 the federal wallet sent 200 Bitcoins to Coinbase, 200 Bitcoins to Kraken, and 500 Bitcoins to an unknown address.
The Impact of Selling and Buying Pressure on Bitcoin
Analysts have examined the Bitcoin market to determine if the selling pressure stemming from federal sales is enough to tank Bitcoin prices. As per the analysis, the German government now has around $2.8 billion in Bitcoins in reserves which has the potential to impact Bitcoin prices in the event of selling pressure.
During the last week, Bitcoin prices have remained in a consistent downtrend with a loss of 11% on the 30-days and 7% over the weekend. These data projections were quoted from BitStamp that further indicate that Bitcoin prices are set around $61,000 at press time.
Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo has claimed that Bitcoin corrections can last up to 4 weeks before resuming a rally. The majority of Bitcoin sales from German government wallet have been sent to regulated platforms. Meanwhile, defunct trading platform Mt.Gox has around $9.4 billion in Bitcoin reserves payable to creditors of the platform.
As per analysts, the selling pressure stemming from Mt.Gox’s Bitcoin reserve may impact the price of Bitcoin in the event of sales. Bitcoin investors are considering all factors to make changes to their investment portfolios.
