United

Bitcoin

Silk Road

Arkham

The United States government shifted roughly 10,000 Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) to a wallet address ending the letters “noe” on Aug. 14, at 15:38:31 UTC, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.&nbsp;
According to the onchain analytics firm, the funds were seized during the Silk Road raid and are currently valued at $593.91 million.
This marks the latest high-profile transfer of the United States government’s Bitcoin holdings, with the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/silk-road-bitcoin-moves-two-days-trump-bitcoin-promise">previous transfer</a> of 29,800 BTC, valued at nearly $2 billion, sent from US government wallets to an unknown address on July 29, 2024.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-08/d4ade006-00a4-48f5-aa20-3c81cf7ffb97.png" alt="US government moves 10,000 Bitcoin" title="">
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 Transaction information of the US government moving BTC. Source: Arkham Intelligence
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The US government currently holds roughly 203,000 BTC valued at approximately $12 billion at the time of this writing.
<h2 id="united-states-government-largest-geopolitical-holder-of-btc">United States government largest geopolitical holder of BTC&nbsp;</h2>
The $12 billion in Bitcoin holdings indicates the US government is the largest geopolitical holder of Bitcoin, a theme that has been repeatedly touched on by 2024 Presidential candidate Donald Trump. 
Trump has previously promised <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-won-t-sell-us-btc-silk-road-bitfinex-seized-assets">not to sell</a> any of the US government’s Bitcoin holdings if elected and told audiences at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, that he would establish a “strategic Bitcoin stockpile” if he manages to secure the Presidency. 
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/mt-gox-90-000-bitcoin-valued-6-billion">Mt. Gox still has 90,000 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $6 billion</a> 
On other occasions, the 2024 Presidential candidate has hinted at using Bitcoin to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-floats-paying-off-35-trillion-national-debt-bitcoin">pay off</a> the government’s $35 trillion national debt.
<h3 id="fears-of-a-market-dump">Fears of a market dump</h3>
Even the slightest indication that a large Bitcoin whale such as a government is about to dump vast quantities of the decentralized asset is enough to send markets tumbling.
In July, crypto markets responded negatively to news of the German government <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/german-government-prepares-next-276m-btc-selloff">selling its Bitcoin</a> holdings as fear, uncertainty, and doubt gripped investors. 
The German government ended up selling 50,000 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $2.9 billion at the time, and currently holds 0.007 BTC, according to <a href="https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a> from Arkham Intelligence. 
This sell-off has since become somewhat of a joke to analysts and crypto pundits, who point out that the German government <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/germany-lost-124m-profit-selling-bitcoin">lost $124 million</a> in profit by selling its holdings by July 13 and not waiting for prices to rebound to higher levels
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/runes-supporters-unlock-bitcoins-potential/">68% of Runes are in the red — Are they really an upgrade for Bitcoin?</a>

US government moves 10,000 Bitcoin

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Cointelegraph

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