A wallet linked to the United States government has moved approximately $1 billion in Bitcoin connected to the Bitfinex hack, and it remains unclear whether the transfer points to a sale or a change of custody. Arkham Intelligence CEO Miguel Morel examined what the on-chain record shows — and what it cannot show — in a video interview with Bitcoin Magazine.

According to Morel, the transaction trail reveals where the funds went but does not disclose the government’s intent. It is still undetermined whether the coins are being sold or moved to a new custodian. He also broke down how disposal orders and the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve factor into the picture — the two frameworks that determine whether seized coins are eventually liquidated or kept by the federal government. The reserve was created by executive order in March 2025 to hold bitcoin obtained through forfeiture as a strategic asset rather than sell it, giving the government a standing alternative to disposal when cases conclude.

The Bitcoin traces back to the 2016 hack of the Bitfinex exchange, in which roughly 120,000 BTC was stolen — still one of the largest thefts in crypto history. US authorities seized a large portion of the stolen coins in February 2022, a haul the Justice Department put at roughly 94,000 BTC and described at the time as the largest financial seizure in its history. Transfers from wallets holding that seized Bitcoin have long been closely monitored by on-chain analysts, because the ledger shows where coins move but not why — the difference between a sale and a custody change can only be resolved through official confirmation, which is why each transfer from these wallets draws immediate scrutiny.

Topics covered in the discussion include:

• How Arkham labels government wallets
• Tracking Bitcoin treasury companies before SEC filings
• Why exchanges such as Coinbase can be a “black box” for analysts
• Segregated wallets and tracking MicroStrategy’s holdings
• How AI agents are using Arkham today
• How much privacy remains on-chain
• Whether anonymity helps or hurts institutional adoption
• How investigators trace stolen funds from hacks

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This post, written by Patrick Green, first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.