On Aug. 26, 2026, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported that a U.S. government-linked wallet moved a small amount of Bitcoin seized from Alameda Research accounts held on Binance.US three years earlier. The transfer renewed attention on how federal agencies may handle the remaining assets tied to the collapsed FTX trading affiliate.
Arkham described the transaction as small but did not publish the exact amount or identify the receiving address. The firm also did not say officials had sold the Bitcoin, leaving the purpose unconfirmed. “The US Government just moved a small amount of Bitcoin that had been seized from Alameda accounts on Binance US, 3 years ago,” Arkham said, then asked whether the government would begin liquidating the remaining Bitcoin connected to Alameda.
A transfer between addresses records a change in custody or location on-chain, but does not by itself prove a sale. The destination matters because federal agencies have regularly used Coinbase Prime to store and manage seized digital assets. In July, U.S. government-linked wallets transferred roughly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime, including about 3,940 BTC and 30,014 ETH tied to separate enforcement cases.
Government wallets have processed other Alameda- and FTX-linked assets throughout 2026. In May, Arkham said authorities moved about $1.89 million in Render, Uniswap, The Sandbox, Mask Network, and Axie Infinity tokens to Coinbase Prime. Another transaction followed in June, when nearly $984,000 in FTX- and Alameda-linked cryptocurrency was moved, with at least $768,000 of that total sent to Coinbase Prime for eventual creditor repayment.
Under President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Bitcoin finally forfeited through criminal or civil proceedings generally cannot be sold. However, exceptions allow returns to victims, compliance with court orders, law enforcement operations, and other forfeiture requirements. No federal agency has said whether the Bitcoin moved on Aug. 26 had entered the reserve, remained assigned to the FTX recovery process, or fell under an exception.
Alameda Research operated as the trading firm associated with FTX before the exchange collapsed in November 2022. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts and later sentenced to 25 years in prison. Federal prosecutors said he misappropriated billions of dollars in customer deposits and gave Alameda access to the funds.
The current movement is being watched by investors because any large-scale liquidation of government-held Bitcoin could add supply pressure. Still, the amounts involved in this latest transfer are believed to be small, and no official sale announcement has been made by the Department of Justice, Treasury Department, or another federal agency.
