Is A Bitcoin Sell-Off Coming? US Government Moves 10,000 BTC To Coinbase
December 03 2024 - 2:30AM
NEWSBTC
As the Bitcoin price consolidates just below its all-time high of
$99,540, a significant move by the US government has raised
concerns among investors. The government has transferred a
substantial amount of its seized Bitcoin holdings to Coinbase,
potentially signaling intentions to sell. This echoes similar
actions that had previously impacted the market earlier this year.
US Government’s Bitcoin Transfer According to market intelligence
firm Arkham, the US government moved approximately 10,000 Bitcoin,
worth around $1.92 billion at current market prices, to two
separate wallets. Related Reading: Dogecoin Boom Over? Crypto
Analyst Warns Of Sudden Sell Signal One wallet contains Bitcoin
valued at $969 million, while the other holds approximately $949
million. This strategic allocation has drawn attention, especially
given the government’s history of selling seized Bitcoin, which can
create notable selling pressure in the market. Data from crypto
analytics firm Dune indicates that the US government currently
holds a staggering 183,422 BTC, valued at over $17.6 billion. This
accounts for roughly 0.93% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Should the government decide to sell a portion of these holdings,
it could exert significant downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price,
reminiscent of previous sell-offs that followed major transfers. A
Halt To Government Sales In 2025? Historically, such actions have
led to increased volatility. For instance, NewsBTC reported in
April, when the Bitcoin price peaked at $73,700, that the
government transferred over 30,000 Bitcoin seized from the Silk
Road marketplace. This followed a previous seizure of more
than 50,000 BTC from James Zhong, who allegedly obtained these
funds through illegal means related to the Silk Road in 2012.
Following these transfers, Bitcoin experienced substantial price
fluctuations and a downward trend over the subsequent months. In
2022, the government also sold 9,800 BTC, with plans to divest an
additional 41,500 Bitcoin. This history raises concerns that the
latest transfer could lead to a similar outcome, potentially
jeopardizing Bitcoin’s recent upward price momentum. However, there
are emerging hopes that such moves could be curtailed in
2025. Related Reading: Fantom Price Breakout: Analyst Shares
Anatomy Of FTM’s 18,000% Move To $150 By 2025 President-elect
Donald Trump is expected to assume office on January 20, and he has
proposed a strategy that includes making Bitcoin a strategic
reserve asset for the US. This approach would involve the
government purchasing nearly 1 million BTC rather than selling its
current holdings, with plans to use these assets to help reduce the
nation’s $36 trillion national debt. This proposal has been
introduced in Congress by US Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis
under “the Bitcoin Act,” which has garnered bipartisan support.
With the recent shift in leadership from Democrats to Republicans
securing a majority in the House, there is optimism that this bill
could come into effect in the second or third quarter of 2025. At
the time of writing, BTC is trading at $96,000, down 0.7% over the
past 24 hours. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from
TradingView.com
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