US Government Moves $1.01 Billion in Bitcoin From Bitfinex…

US government-linked wallets moved approximately 12,267 bitcoin worth about $1.01 billion on Thursday, drawing from assets tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, according to blockchain data tracked by Arkham. The coins went to newly created, unlabeled addresses rather than an exchange deposit wallet, and a second transaction forwarded part of the funds to another unidentified address.

No onchain evidence indicates a sale. Relocating bitcoin to a fresh unlabeled address changes where the assets are held but does not show they reached an exchange or were converted into dollars. That separates Thursday's activity from transfers a day earlier, when roughly 3,200 BTC worth about $264 million and approximately $119 million in USDT were sent to addresses identified as Coinbase Prime deposits from wallets linked to the Bitfinex and FTX/Alameda seizures. Even an exchange deposit does not prove liquidation, since Coinbase Prime provides institutional custody as well as execution services. The same ambiguity surrounded a July movement of $288 million in seized crypto to Coinbase Prime, which fueled selling speculation without blockchain proof the coins hit the open market.

Forfeiture and Reserve Context

The exact size of the transfer carries legal significance. A federal forfeiture attachment listed approximately 12,267.025 BTC seized from wallets recovered in the investigation of convicted hacker Ilya Lichtenstein, and later court proceedings saw Bitfinex cite that tranche — alongside roughly 94,643 BTC and 2,818 BTC — as directly traceable to wallets the exchange controlled when the 2016 hack occurred. The government initially proposed returning crypto seized straight from the hack wallet to Bitfinex as in-kind restitution, but the court rejected that approach and awarded zero restitution because of competing ownership claims, instead directing disposal through a third-party ancillary forfeiture process. No federal agency has publicly linked Thursday's transfer to a specific purpose.

President Donald Trump's March 2025 executive order created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and states that bitcoin deposited there should not be sold. The reserve is designed mainly to hold bitcoin from finalized federal forfeitures, though the order permits bitcoin needed to satisfy statutory forfeiture requirements to stay outside it and allows releases for purposes such as returning property to verified victims, law enforcement operations or compliance with court orders. A wallet bearing a US government label therefore does not confirm that every coin inside has entered the reserve.

For traders, the clearest next signal would be another transaction from the two new addresses. Onward transfers to Coinbase Prime or another trading venue would intensify focus on possible execution, while continued movement between unlabeled wallets would look more like custody restructuring. In January, officials said bitcoin from the Samourai Wallet case had not been liquidated after a Coinbase Prime transfer sparked speculation, with the Department of Justice confirming the coins remained part of government holdings.