US government-linked wallets have moved a combined $103 million in Bitcoin and BNB, with $71.56 million in BTC sent to Coinbase Prime, according to on-chain analysts EmberCN and Lookonchain. The movement included 833.6 BTC and 40,285 BNB worth approximately $31.63 million. The BNB passed through multiple addresses before reaching a wallet beginning with 0xBE7 and ending in 81E. On the same day, a further 264.863 BTC worth about $22.87 million was moved to Coinbase in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack, although officials described this batch as part of a court-ordered restitution process rather than a sale.
On-chain data indicates that the US government still holds roughly 323,693.83 BTC, valued at about $27.72 billion. The transfer to Coinbase Prime does not by itself confirm a sale, since the platform provides both custody and advanced trading services for government assets under a U.S. Marshals Service arrangement dating to July 2024. Under the March 2025 executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, forfeited Bitcoin deposited into the reserve cannot be sold, while other seized digital assets such as BNB fall under the separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.
The 264.863 BTC moved on October 6, 2026 is tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack, one of the largest exchange thefts in crypto history, in which about 119,754 BTC was stolen. Authorities recovered around 94,636 BTC in 2022 following the arrest of Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. Lichtenstein received a five-year prison sentence and Morgan received 18 months. A 2025 federal court ruling ordered the seized Bitcoin to be returned to Bitfinex in-kind rather than converted to cash. Bitfinex has said it plans to use returned coins to redeem Recovery Right Tokens, and to use at least 80% of any remaining proceeds to buy back and burn its LEO token.
Previous government Bitcoin transfers have at times been followed by short-term price declines. In June 2024, 3,940 BTC moved to Coinbase Prime and BTC fell roughly 2%; in August 2024, 10,000 BTC moved and Bitcoin dropped about 3.6%; and in July 2024, a roughly $2 billion movement was followed by a roughly 1% decline. However, blockchain data alone has not confirmed whether the government instructed Coinbase Prime to liquidate those assets. The latest movements also included 568 BTC from the Potapenko-Turogin Hashflare case and BNB tied to forfeited FTX holdings, according to analysts.
Sani of timechainindex.com spotted a small test transfer of 0.00115539 BTC to Coinbase Prime before the larger batch followed. A separate test transfer of 0.127 BNB preceded the 40,285.07 BNB movement. The activity marked the first major movement from these government wallets since August 26.
