Wallets linked to the U.S. government moved 12,267 bitcoin, worth roughly $1.01 billion, out of a wallet holding funds seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack on Thursday, according to on-chain data from blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.

The coins went to a new, unlabeled address, with a second transaction heading to a different address. Arkham recorded no exchange deposit. That pattern points to internal wallet reshuffling rather than a sale.

What preceded the transfer?

The move came 24 hours after heavier exchange-bound activity. On Wednesday, roughly 3,200 BTC — about $264 million — plus $119 million in USDT reached Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. Arkham traced the funds to wallets tied to the FTX/Alameda and Bitfinex seizures.

CoinDesk reported on Wednesday that more than $100 million in BTC and BNB moved in a similar fashion. In July, about $288 million in seized bitcoin and ether reached Coinbase Prime through fresh intermediary wallets.

Deposits to Coinbase Prime do not necessarily signal a sale. The platform also provides institutional custody services, which means government transfers there can reflect storage arrangements as easily as liquidation intent.

Why the government is not selling

A March 2025 executive order directed that forfeited bitcoin be placed into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and stated it should not be sold. The order reframed how federal agencies handle seized digital assets, shifting the default from liquidation to retention.

Against that policy backdrop, transfers to unlabeled wallets read as custody hygiene — consolidating or reorganizing holdings — rather than distribution. Arkham's data shows the government still holds approximately $25.5 billion in crypto, making it one of the largest single holders tracked on-chain.

Operational read-through

For market participants, the distinction matters. Exchange-bound movements of seized coins historically triggered liquidation fears, since government sales typically execute through venues like Coinbase. Unlabeled-address transfers carry no such implication, and analysts now parse destination types — exchange deposit addresses versus fresh wallets — as the primary signal of intent.

The sequence over the past two days captures both patterns: exchange-bound flows to Coinbase Prime on Wednesday, followed by a $1 billion shuffle to unlabeled addresses on Thursday. Under the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve mandate, the default expectation for forfeited BTC has shifted toward indefinite retention, with any actual disposition requiring an explicit policy decision.

Further Arkham-tracked movements from government-linked wallets will indicate whether Thursday's transfer begins a broader custody consolidation or a one-off reorganization.