On Thursday, cryptocurrency intelligence platform Arkham reported that addresses associated with the United States government transferred 12,267 bitcoin (BTC), valued at roughly $1.01 billion.
These assets departed from a storage location containing funds confiscated during the 2016 Bitfinex breach, landing in a fresh, unassigned address, while a secondary transfer routed funds to an alternative destination. Because no exchange deposit was identified, this activity suggests routine wallet reorganization rather than an impending liquidation.
This movement succeeds a higher volume of exchange-directed activity from the previous 24 hours, during which approximately 3,200 BTC, equal to nearly $264 million, alongside $119 million in USDT, arrived at Coinbase Prime deposit endpoints. According to Arkham’s tracking, these reserves originated from wallets linked to confiscations from FTX, Alameda, and Bitfinex.
CoinDesk previously covered on Wednesday that upwards of $100 million in BNB and BTC had shifted under similar circumstances. Furthermore, in July, roughly $288 million in confiscated ether and bitcoin was directed to Coinbase Prime through newly created intermediary addresses.
Transfers directed to Coinbase Prime do not definitively signal a liquidation because the service additionally offers custody solutions. An executive order signed in March 2025 mandated that seized bitcoin be channeled into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and prohibited its disposal. Current Arkham data indicates that authorities retain approximately $25.5 billion in digital assets.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/10/08/u-s-government-moves-usd1-billion-in-bitcoin-from-bitfinex-hack-wallet-no-sale-indicated.
