Why has the U.S. government transferred 71 million dollars in Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime?

Wallets associated with the U.S. government transferred Bitcoin worth $103 million and BNB, of which more than $71.56 million in BTC was sent to Coinbase Prime. This transaction has raised questions among outsiders about whether these assets might be sold.

• According to EmberCN, relevant US government wallets transferred 833.6 BTC and 40,285 BNB, with a total value of 103 million US dollars.
• Among them, Bitcoin worth $71.56 million was sent to Coinbase Prime, while BNB flowed to 0xBE7…81E after passing through multiple addresses.
• Transferring to Coinbase Prime does not mean that it has been sold, as this platform also provides custody and trading services for U.S. government assets.
• Previously, after the government made Bitcoin transfers, there were short-term price declines, but there were also multiple transfers that were not confirmed to be sales.
• According to the administrative order of 2025, Bitcoin deposited in the strategic Bitcoin reserve shall not be sold, while other digital assets held by the government are managed separately.

On-chain analyst EmberCN reported that an address associated with the U.S. government transferred 833.6 BTC, worth $71.56 million, as well as 40,285 BNB, worth $31.63 million. The two transactions totaled approximately $103 million.

Bitcoin was sent to Coinbase Prime, while BNB went through multiple addresses before ultimately reaching an address that starts with 0xBE7 and ends with 81E.

EmberCN It is estimated that addresses associated with the US government currently hold approximately $28 billion in digital assets, with Bitcoin accounting for the majority of this amount. These addresses possess around 324,000 BTC, valued at $27.7 billion.

Is the U.S. government selling Bitcoin?

Sending 833.6 BTC to Coinbase Prime has raised the possibility of a sale, as the platform is capable of executing transactions; however, the on-chain transfer alone does not prove that these bitcoins have been sold.

In July 2024, the U.S. Marshals Service chose Coinbase Prime to provide custody and advanced trading services for large-cap digital assets that are managed as part of a federal asset forfeiture program. As a result, assets that enter this platform can be either held in custody or used for trading.

Similar issues occurred in July, when nearly $297 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum that were associated with government-related wallets were transferred to Coinbase Prime and crypto.news. This has been reported previously.

At that time, it involved approximately 3,940 BTC, valued at $244 million, as well as about 30,000 ETH, valued at nearly $53 million. These bitcoins were related to seizure cases involving Ryan Farace (nicknamed “Xanaxman”) and the now-closed BTC-e exchange, while the Ethereum came from another federal case.

Those transactions in July did not confirm a sale. Blockchain records can only confirm that the assets reached Coinbase Prime, but they cannot prove whether officials instructed the platform to liquidate them.

Since multiple large transfers in 2024, the federal government's policy regarding its holdings of Bitcoin has changed.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and set up a separate U.S. digital asset reserve for other cryptocurrencies. According to this executive order, the Bitcoins that are ultimately confiscated and placed in the strategic Bitcoin reserve "shall not be sold" and must be held as reserve assets.

This restriction does not apply to all cryptocurrencies that are visible in government-related wallets, regardless of their legal status. The executive order also includes provisions regarding assets that are subject to court orders, victim compensation, law enforcement actions, and other requirements under current laws.

Apart from Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies held by the government will be handled separately. Assets like BNB can be included in the US Digital Asset Reserve, and the Secretary of the Treasury may decide on the management strategy for them according to the law.

Therefore, the current flow of BNB is different from the Bitcoin stored in the strategic Bitcoin reserves. EmberCN indicates that 40,285 BNB tokens pass through multiple addresses before reaching 0xBE7…81E, rather than stating that these tokens have reached Coinbase Prime.

How did Bitcoin react after the previous U.S. government transfer?

Previously, after the government transferred Bitcoin to Coinbase, there would sometimes be short-term price drops, although a single transfer in itself does not prove that the government has sold the coins.

In June 2024, U.S. authorities transferred 3,940 BTC coins, valued at approximately $240 million, into Coinbase Prime. These bitcoins had previously been confiscated from the seller Banmeet Singh by Silk Road. Before and after the transaction, the value of BTC fell by about 2%, and traders were concerned that these coins might enter the market at that time.

In August 2024, an additional 10,000 BTC coins, valued at approximately $594 million, were sent to Coinbase Prime. Following the news, Bitcoin fell by 3.6%, although this decline had already begun before the seized Silk Road funds reached Coinbase Prime.

A larger-scale transfer occurred in July 2024, when a government wallet transferred approximately $2 billion in Bitcoin and split the funds across two addresses. At that time, it was stated that 10,000 Bitcoins were deposited with institutional custodians or service providers. After the announcement of the news, Bitcoin prices fell by about 1%.

By December, another wallet associated with the government had transferred nearly 20,000 BTC, worth about $1.92 billion. These coins were sent to a new address and then split into wallets that held approximately 10,000 BTC and 9,800 BTC respectively.

The U.S. government has indeed sold confiscated bitcoins in the past. In March 2023, officials sold 9,861 BTC coins related to Silk Road, worth approximately $216 million. This action was later disclosed in court documents, confirming that these coins were indeed sold, rather than merely inferred from on-chain transfers.

These transactions in 2024 occurred before the issuance of the executive order in March 2025; that executive order established a strategic Bitcoin reserve and instructed the government not to sell the Bitcoins held within it.

Recent transfers continue to show that it is still difficult to determine the purpose of transferring to Coinbase Prime based solely on blockchain data. In June, government wallets transferred nearly $984,000 in seized FTX and Alameda assets, of which at least $768,000 reached Coinbase Prime. Arkham indicates that these assets were originally intended for for the FTX estate to help repay creditors.

As of now, no federal agency has announced any sales related to the latest transfer of 833.6 BTC. The data for EmberCN only proves that these bitcoins have reached Coinbase Prime; to determine whether these coins have been sold, more transaction data or confirmation from the government and its service providers is needed.