The US government activated its bitcoin wallets again on April 10, sending approximately 2.44 BTC (valued at over $177,000) to a Coinbase Prime institutional custody address. The funds originated from the 2025 federal case against Glenn Olivio, indicted for steroid trafficking and money laundering, with the transfer first detected by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
Transfer Details and Context
On-chain data shows the transfer was split into two transactions: 1.9785397 BTC and 0.45963654 BTC, both landing at the same Coinbase Prime deposit address starting with 3EMqu. Arkham posted on X: “The US government just moved drug trafficking money—$177.4K in BTC to Coinbase Prime, their first action in over a month. Will they sell?”
Notably, Trump's executive order on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve mandates that seized bitcoins be held long-term and not sold. This suggests the move may be for asset consolidation or custody address management rather than liquidation.
Recent Wallet Activity
In recent weeks, multiple US government-linked crypto wallets have shown increased activity, involving funds from the Bitfinex hack case, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and Chen Zhi seizures. These movements had sparked market concerns about potential sales, but the executive order has temporarily alleviated that fear.
The US government currently holds approximately 328,369.55 BTC, worth tens of billions of dollars, making it one of the largest known sovereign bitcoin reserves. However, these figures are estimates derived from flagged wallet mapping by Arkham and remain unverified by official audits.
Stablecoin Market Hits New High
Separately, the stablecoin market capitalization reached a new all-time high of $318.6 billion, led by Tether and USDC, approaching the $320 billion milestone. This underscores growing demand for stable value instruments in crypto markets.
Overall, while the US government's small bitcoin transfers do not directly impact market supply, its ongoing wallet activity and policy framework are reshaping expectations around regulation and reserve strategy.