The federal government now holds greater than 214,000 bitcoin (BTC), creating over 1% from the total capped bitcoin supply. The brand new milestone was arrived at following a government announcement on Monday stated it’d grabbed greater than 50,000 BTC connected using the illegal online marketplace Silk Road.
Based on Monday’s announcement in the US Department of Justice, 50,676.17 BTC were grabbed from the Silk Road crook. The most recent accessory for the government’s already massive bitcoin stash is exactly what introduced it above 200k BTC, hitting 214,682 BTC to become exact.
In the current exchange rate of $16,800 per gold coin, the government’s bitcoin stash has become worth an astounding $3.6bn. Which makes the united states government’s stash is bigger than even Michael Saylor’s company MicroStrategy, which holds 130,000 BTC based on its latest filing.
Most from the government’s current bitcoin holding originates from three major confiscations previously 2 yrs. In the first, in November of 2020, the federal government grabbed 69,370.22 BTC from the person connected with Silk Road known only as “Individual X.” Following a confiscation, the federal government was the very first time declared the world’s top bitcoin whale.
The 2nd major confiscation arrived Feb of the year, when onchain analysts observed that the whopping 94,636 BTC produced from the 2016 Bitfinex hack were consolidated right into a single address. The funds were later grabbed through the government, and two suspects were arrested.
Combined with newest Silk Road-related seizure announced now, the federal government now holds greater than 1% from the total bitcoin way to obtain 21 million coins.
But even though the risk exists the government could choose to “dump” their massive holding available on the market, most likely this isn’t the way the government will cope with it.
In the past, bitcoin grabbed through the US Justice Department happen to be auctioned off and away to investors, with no auctions themselves creating a market impact whatsoever. Important to note, however, would be that the government hasn’t held a significant bitcoin auction for a while now, also it therefore remains unclear exactly when the next is going to be.
Most likely the government, like average folks, is just awaiting better prices before it decides to market?
