The U.S. government has transferred approximately $288 million worth of seized bitcoin and ether to Coinbase Prime, with the transactions occurring over a span of about half a day on Monday, according to blockchain data from Arkham. The ether was sent directly, while the bitcoin was routed through new intermediary wallets first.
This action appears to contradict a March 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump, which allocated seized bitcoin to a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and prohibited its sale.
A wallet associated with Ryan Farace, known from the "xanaxman" case, transferred 2,875 BTC valued at around $178 million to a new address, which subsequently sent the entire amount to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet shortly after. Additionally, another wallet linked to the now-defunct BTC-e exchange moved 925.512 BTC worth about $57 million in a similar manner, routing the coins directly to Coinbase Prime.
In contrast, ether was sent without intermediary steps. A wallet connected to Brian Krewson, involved in a $54 million laundering scheme, sent 30,007 ETH valued at $53.09 million straight to a Coinbase Prime deposit address.
Another transaction involved 140.214 BTC moving between government addresses on Coinbase Prime and a Coinbase cold wallet, indicating internal management of funds.
While the routing of the Farace and BTC-e coins to an exchange does not confirm an imminent sale, it raises speculation. Coinbase Prime offers custody, financing, and staging services, which means these movements could be for asset management rather than direct sales. Analysts often interpret such transfers as preparations for potential sales or exchanges with stablecoins, since significant amounts of crypto are typically stored in cold wallets for security.
Despite these movements, the government still retains approximately $20.65 billion in cryptocurrency holdings, which includes 324,552 BTC, 28,394 ETH, and 145.549 million USDT, making the recent transfers a small fraction of its overall assets.