US government moves Bitcoin seized from Alameda

The U.S. government has transferred a small amount of Bitcoin seized from Alameda Research’s Binance.US accounts three years ago, renewing attention on how federal agencies will handle the remaining assets. Summary The transferred Bitcoin came from Alameda-linked accounts seized from Binance.US three years ago. Arkham reported the transaction but did not identify it as a sale. Earlier Alameda-linked transfers sent nearly $2.9 million in seized crypto through government-controlled wallets. Federal rules generally restrict sales of Bitcoin placed in the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Arkham Intelligence reported the transaction on Aug. 26, describing the amount as small and tracing the Bitcoin to Alameda accounts on Binance.US that U.S. authorities seized three years earlier. The blockchain analytics firm did not publish the amount in its indexed post or identify the receiving address. Arkham also did not say that officials had sold the Bitcoin, leaving the transaction’s purpose unconfirmed. “The US Government just moved a small amount of Bitcoin that had been seized from Alameda accounts on Binance US, 3 years ago,” Arkham said. Arkham then asked whether the government would begin liquidating the remaining Bitcoin connected to Alameda. The question was not tied to an announcement from the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, or another federal agency. You might also like: Upbit parent Dunamu to custody seized crypto for South Korean police The Bitcoin transfer does not confirm a sale Moving Bitcoin between addresses records a change in custody or location on the blockchain, but the transaction alone does not show whether the asset has been sold. A transfer to another government wallet may involve custody, accounting, or security management, while movement to an exchange can make a future sale possible without proving one occurred. The destination is especially important because federal agencies have regularly used Coinbase Prime to store and manage seized digital assets. Coinbase’s institutional platform offers both custody and trading services, meaning a deposit there can support several purposes. In July, U.S. government-linked wallets transferred nearly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime. The transaction included about 3,940 BTC and 30,014 ETH tied to separate enforcement cases, according to earlier transaction coverage. Bitcoin connected to Ryan Farace, an online drug dealer known as “Xanaxman,” and the closed BTC-e exchange formed part of the July transfer. Ether linked to a separate money laundering case also moved to Coinbase Prime. No public blockchain record can show whether an exchange deposit resulted in an executed trade unless additional evidence reveals a conversion or movement of the sale proceeds. The same limitation applies to the latest Alameda-linked Bitcoin transaction.