US Government Admits to Selling 9,800 Bitcoin, Plans to Liquidate Another $1.1 Billion in BTC
The US Department of Justice has revealed that it sold a portion of the massive Bitcoin seizure from the Silk Road dark web marketplace crackdown and plans to liquidate an additional 41,500 BTC.
US Sells 9,861 BTC, More to Come
In a press release dated March 31, the US government disclosed that it sold 9,861 BTC on March 14, 2023, fetching $216 million at that time, with the sale price around $21,800 per BTC. The transaction fees incurred amounted to over $215,000.
[DB] US Govt Sold 9,800 BTC on March 14, Intends to Sell a Further 41,500 BTC Connected to Silk Road in Four Batches Over the Course of the Year: Court Filing
— db (@tier10k) March 31, 2023
This batch of Bitcoin is the same amount reported by Coin68 to have been moved to Coinbase earlier in March.
The BTC sold was part of the 50,000 Bitcoin seized from James Zhong, an individual who confessed to hacking and stealing assets from Silk Road, the notorious dark web marketplace dismantled by the US in 2013.
Plans for Further Liquidation
Notably, the US government plans to liquidate the remaining 41,500 BTC through four additional sales throughout 2023. This substantial amount of Bitcoin is currently valued at $1.1 billion, based on the exchange rate at the time of writing (1 BTC = $28,120).
Despite the selling pressure, Bitcoin's price maintained impressive growth throughout March and set a new annual high of $29,184 on March 30, 2023.
