The US government made its first bitcoin transfer of 2026 on Tuesday, moving about 0.33 BTC worth just under $23,000 from seized wallets. The funds came from a wallet labeled “Miguel Villanueva Seized Funds,” though public filings do not identify Villanueva or explain the seizure tied to the address.
Arkham Intelligence data shows the transaction was split into three smaller transfers: 0.0567 BTC, 0.2402 BTC, and 0.0378 BTC. All three were sent to new, unknown addresses. The amount was small. The signal was not. Federal bitcoin wallets are still seeing active movement on-chain.
Recent government transfers show continued wallet activity
This was not an isolated case. On November 3, 2025, the US government transferred 57.55 BTC to Coinbase Prime. Earlier, on October 14, 2025, it moved a much larger 1,320.24 BTC from wallets tied to “Potapenko/Turogin Forfeited Funds.” Taken together, those transfers point to ongoing management of government-held bitcoin rather than passive storage.
That matters because the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, created under an executive order signed by President Trump, still has not shown accumulation beyond seized assets. The reserve exists as a policy framework, but the reported federal buildup of bitcoin remains tied to forfeitures and seizures.
Federal holdings remain massive, while case details stay thin
According to the figures cited in the report, the US government currently holds about 328,371.99 BTC, valued at roughly $22.45 billion. Even with that scale, public disclosures remain limited in individual cases. The Villanueva wallet is one example, with almost no detail available beyond the wallet label itself.
Security is also part of the picture. Reports in January pointed to a $40 million siphoning from federal crypto wallets. ZachXBT linked that breach to a third party involved in managing the government’s digital forfeitures. With billions of dollars in crypto under custody, operational risk is not a side issue.
Former Trump crypto advisor points to the policy-action gap
David Bailey, a former crypto advisor to the Trump administration, said during Bitcoin Investor Week in New York, “At the end of the day, liking Bitcoin is not enough.” He argued that one year after the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order, no bitcoin accumulation outside seized assets had begun. The policy exists on paper. The buying activity still does not.