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U.S. government moves $1 billion in bitcoin from Bitfinex hack wallet, no sale indicated

Times News policy-spillover note (2026-10-08): Arkham data shows the 12,267 BTC went to unlabeled wallets rather than an exchange, a day after $383 million hit Coinbase Prime. U.S. government-linked… Primary source: original at CoinDesk (coindesk.com).

· CoinDesk

U.S. government moves $1 billion in bitcoin from Bitfinex hack wallet, no sale indicated

Arkham data shows the 12,267 BTC went to unlabeled wallets rather than an exchange, a day after $383 million hit Coinbase Prime.

  • U.S. government-linked wallets moved 12,267 BTC ($1.01 billion) from a Bitfinex hack seizure wallet to new, unlabeled addresses. No exchange deposit was recorded, which points to wallet reshuffling rather than a sale.
  • The move follows heavier exchange-bound activity a day earlier, when roughly 3,200 BTC ($264 million) and $119 million in USDT reached Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. Coinbase Prime also provides custody, so deposits there don't necessarily indicate a sale.
  • A March 2025 executive order says forfeited bitcoin should go into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and not be sold. The government still holds about $25.5 billion in crypto.

Wallets linked to the U.S. government moved 12,267 bitcoin

The coins left a wallet holding funds seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack and went to a new, unlabeled address, with a second transaction going to a different address. No exchange deposit was recorded, a pattern more consistent with wallet reshuffling than a sale.

The transfer follows heavier exchange-bound activity 24 hours earlier, when roughly 3,200 BTC (about $264 million) and $119 million in USDT landed at Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. The funds came from wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures, according to Arkham’s identification.

CoinDesk reported on Wednesday that more than $100 million in BTC and BNB moved in a similar fashion. In July, about $288 million in seized bitcoin and ether was routed to Coinbase Prime via fresh intermediary wallets.

Deposits to Coinbase Prime don't necessarily indicate a sale because the platform also provides custody. A March 2025 executive order directed forfeited bitcoin into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and said it should not be sold. The government still holds about $25.5 billion worth of crypto, Arkham shows.

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