The US government transferred approximately 8.2 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $606,000, to Coinbase Prime.
According to on-chain data, flagged by Arkham Intelligence, this transfer is linked to the seizure following the Bitfinex hack of 2016.
Why these Bitcoins are unlikely to hit the market
The wallet executed two consecutive outgoing transactions, splitting the transfer: one transaction of 7,999 BTC and a smaller deposit of 0.197 BTC to the same Coinbase Prime address.
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Transfers to an exchange often lead to speculation about a quick sale. However, these specific coins are legally registered elsewhere.
A federal court has allowed approximately 94,643 BTC to be returned to Bitfinex in early 2025 through recovery agreements. The ruling establishes that Bitfinex is the only party entitled to reclamation.
The outgoing transaction from Thursday follows previous transfers from the federal wallet on March 3 and April 10, 2026. According to Arkham data, government wallets in the US currently hold 328,361 Bitcoin worth approximately $24 billion (as of April 2026). The last transfer accounts for less than 0.0024% of the total.
Ilya Lichtenstein executed 2,000 fraudulent transactions to steal 119,754 BTC from Bitfinex in 2016. He received a five-year prison sentence in November 2024.
Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Under the First Step Act, he was released early in January 2026.
