Wallets linked to the U.S. government moved 12,267 BTC, worth approximately $1.01 billion, on Thursday, according to data from blockchain intelligence firm Arkham. Bitcoin was trading at $82,486.39 around the time of the transfer. The coins left a wallet holding funds seized in connection with the 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex — a breach in which roughly 120,000 BTC were stolen and which remains one of the largest thefts in crypto history — and were sent to a newly created, unlabeled address, with a second transaction directing additional funds to a different address.

No exchange deposit was recorded alongside either transfer. The funds moved to new, unlabeled wallets rather than to a known exchange deposit address — a pattern more consistent with internal wallet reshuffling than with an imminent sale. Because the federal government is one of the largest known holders of bitcoin, movements from its wallets are closely tracked by on-chain analysts, who treat the destination of transfers as a key clue in distinguishing custody reorganization from liquidation.

The movement followed heavier exchange-bound activity roughly 24 hours earlier, when approximately 3,200 BTC, valued at about $264 million, and $119 million in USDT were deposited into Coinbase Prime deposit addresses, a combined total of roughly $383 million. According to Arkham's identification, those funds came from wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures. Deposits to Coinbase Prime do not necessarily indicate a sale, however, as the platform also provides custody services alongside its institutional trading offering.

The transfers extend a series of recent movements from government-linked wallets. CoinDesk reported on Wednesday that more than $100 million in BTC and BNB had moved in a similar fashion, though a sale was not confirmed at the time. In July, about $288 million in seized bitcoin and ether was routed to Coinbase Prime through freshly created intermediary wallets.

Under a March 2025 executive order, forfeited bitcoin is to be placed into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and not sold — a shift away from the government's longstanding practice of auctioning seized coins. Arkham's data indicates the U.S. government still holds approximately $25.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency. For now, observers watching the newly reshuffled coins would find a subsequent transfer to a labeled exchange deposit address a far clearer signal of intent than this week's unlabeled movements.