US Government Moves Over $74,000,000 Bitcoin to 2 New Addresses

In a significant development, the US government has transferred approximately 667 Bitcoin, valued at around $74.8 million, to two newly created wallets.

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the wallet tied to the US government moved the funds in two separate transactions within hours leading up to press time. The first transaction, executed today at 08:57 (UTC), involved the transfer of 0.001 BTC to an unknown address (bc1q7…cddhj). Shortly after, a much larger transaction followed, in which 667.623 BTC was sent to another fresh wallet (bc1qa…n62xs).

The Bitcoin originated from a wallet labeled “U.S. Government: Potapenko,” believed to be associated with assets seized in connection with Estonian nationals Sergey Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, who were charged with running a large-scale crypto fraud operation. Overall, the value of the funds was around $74.80 million in the hours leading up to press time. 

Funds Move to Another Unlabeled Address 

As of the time of writing, the recipient wallets have already moved the funds again to another unlabeled address, identified as “bc1q5…9tmq.” This marks the first significant outflow exceeding 650 BTC from US government–linked wallets in recent months.

Expectedly, the transfer of these funds has raised speculation within the crypto community, as government-related Bitcoin transfers often precede asset liquidation events or exchange deposits. However, the funds remain in the new addresses at the time of writing, meaning that there are no immediate plans for sale. 

Bitcoin Price Slumps Over 5% in 24 Hours 

Meanwhile, the development comes several months after the US government indicated plans to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) using BTC seized in civil or criminal actions. Although the government has transferred over 667 million BTC in the hours leading up to press time, it still holds around 197,354 BTC, valued at approximately $22.02 billion. 

The move comes on the heels of a modest correction across the crypto market, during which the price of BTC slumped to a daily low of $110,187 from $116,020, marking a 24-hour downturn of 5.02%. However, BTC has staged a rebound and now changes hands at $111,426.