The U.S. government moved about $288 million in seized crypto assets to Coinbase Prime deposit addresses on July 14, according to CoinDesk, which cited on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence. The transfer included 3,800.714 BTC and 30,007 ETH.
Arkham’s data, as cited by CoinDesk, shows the bitcoin first passed through an intermediary wallet before landing at Coinbase Prime. The ether was sent directly to a Coinbase Prime deposit address. The U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Justice had not released statements.
Bitcoin linked to Farace case and BTC-e
Of the total, the BTC portion came to 3,800.714 BTC, worth about $235 million.
That included 2,875 BTC, or about $178 million, tied to the Ryan Farace case. Farace used the dark web alias “xanaxman,” and the report described the case as part of a dark web drug and crypto money-laundering investigation brought by the Department of Justice in earlier years.
Another 925.512 BTC, worth about $57 million, came from BTC-e, the Russian-linked exchange that U.S. authorities shut down in 2017.
Ether tied to Brian Krewson case
The ETH portion totaled 30,007 ETH, worth about $53.09 million, and was tied to the Brian Krewson case.
Krewson, a former senior technical support engineer at Oracle, was identified by the DOJ as a co-conspirator who helped conceal crypto assets for cocaine trafficking figures Christopher Castelluzzo and Luke Atwell. The report said the ETH had originally been bought for about $9,000 and had since appreciated to more than $54 million.
Krewson was not criminally charged. The assets were seized by the DOJ after he turned over wallet passwords and cooperated during the investigation, according to the report.
Transfer does not confirm a sale
CoinDesk presented two possible readings of the move. One is the standard market view that crypto sent to an exchange address may signal preparation for a sale. The other is that Coinbase Prime also offers custody, financing, and staging services, so moving the Farace and BTC-e assets there does not by itself confirm that a sale is coming.
The report also noted that the U.S. government has, at times, auctioned seized BTC in tranches or sold it through exchanges. In other cases, it has moved coins to institutional custody platforms and held them for longer periods without selling.
Until federal authorities formally announce an auction process, the $288 million transfer can only be treated as a wallet movement on-chain, not direct proof of pending sell pressure.
Separate report pointed to reserve debate
ABMedia also cited a July 7 report by Chain News saying the Trump administration’s crypto strategic reserve was the subject of a jurisdictional tug-of-war between the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department. If seized assets are ultimately folded into that reserve, the odds of long-term holding would rise, the report said.