The leader of the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC), and the entire crypto industry were focused on a single news today. According to leading on-chain analysis platforms, the seized BTC from Silk Road, once one of the largest dark web platforms in the world, has been moved. This has raised the claim that the US government, which carried out the seizure, has put these bitcoins into circulation for sale. The news of the movement of 9,800 BTC has caused a stir in the market. So what are the latest developments in this news?
Have BTC Sales Started?
According to the latest information, 8,200 out of the 9,800 BTC associated with Silk Road have been officially transferred to new wallets. The remaining bitcoins have been moved to linked wallets known as “change wallets,” where funds remaining after transactions are transferred. However, there are debates about whether these remaining funds have actually been moved. This is because these funds can also be sent to different wallets in new addresses.
In the first transaction, 0.01 BTC is seen to be transferred to the wallet starting with 361yog. Here, 506 BTC is automatically transferred to the new wallet called change address. In the second transaction, 8,200 BTC is transferred to the wallet starting with 361yog. The remaining 1,118 BTC is transferred to the linked change address wallet.
Both transfers use the fee function to replace a previous transaction with a new one. For this, the transaction must not yet be confirmed, and that’s exactly what happens. This way, BTC network users can speed up their transactions and avoid being stuck during congested periods.
How Much BTC Does the US Government Have?
The US government seized a total of 50,000 BTC in 2022, and even a small portion of them moving causes general panic. In March of this year, the US government sold 9,861 BTC, and it was reported that they planned to sell the remaining BTC in four different transactions. This strengthens the claim that the recent transfer is a new sale. Currently, the government holds 41,490 BTC, which puts pressure on the market with a value of over a billion dollars.
