US Government Moves $1B in Seized Bitcoin After $770M Transfer

The US government just moved a massive amount of Bitcoin. In a single transaction, it transferred more than 12,267 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth over $1 billion — to a new digital wallet (a secure online account for storing cryptocurrency).

This happened just hours after the government made another big move of $770 million in Bitcoin to a Coinbase Prime wallet. Coinbase Prime is a service designed for large institutions and governments to safely store and trade crypto.

Where did all this Bitcoin come from? According to Arkham Research (a company that studies blockchain data — the public record of all crypto transactions), this Bitcoin is linked to the recovery of stolen funds from the 2016 Bitfinex hack. In that attack, hackers stole a staggering 119,756 BTC from the Bitfinex crypto exchange.

Here are the key numbers:

• 12,267 BTC moved in the latest transfer (worth over $1 billion)
• $770 million in BTC moved hours earlier
• 119,756 BTC stolen in the 2016 Bitfinex hack
• 328,372 BTC estimated to be held by the US government as of 2026

The US government has gathered this huge pile of Bitcoin by seizing assets (taking ownership of property connected to crimes) during criminal cases and investigations.

Why does this matter? In March 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order (a direct instruction from the president) to create a strategic Bitcoin and crypto reserve — a national stockpile of digital currency, similar to how countries keep reserves of gold. However, lawmakers are still working to turn this order into a permanent law.

The identity of who received the transferred Bitcoin was unknown at the time of writing, and the US Marshals and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In short: The US is actively managing over a billion dollars in seized Bitcoin, highlighting how crypto is becoming a serious part of government finances.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-government-seized-bitcoin-moved-one-transaction?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound