In what seems like a shocking move, the US government has rocked the cryptocurrency market by transferring - drumroll please - an enormous amount of Bitcoin worth around $600 million to Coinbase PRIME.
Well, it isn't just any Bitcoin, this is part of the stash taken from the infamous Silk Road, a dark web marketplace shut down years ago.
Coinbase PRIME is not some run-of-the-mill crypto exchange, it's a professional platform for the big ones: banks and firms. Hence, the choice of the government operating with this service in particular becomes interesting. It simply proves that they are unleashing a professionally run handling of these digital assets.
The move has got many people talking. Usually, when someone sends crypto to an exchange, people think they're going to sell it. But that might not be the case here. The government could just be storing the Bitcoin safely. They have been working with Coinbase to look after seized digital money.
The news put some pressure on the price of Bitcoin.
It tumbled from roughly $61,000 down to $59,000. But it's truly challenging to tell whether that was a direct result of government actions. Over time, the crypto market shows its relentless nature.
Looking big, the US government is sitting on a crypto gold mine: billions of dollars in seized digital coins, from Bitcoin to other types of cryptocurrencies. Yes, to put things into perspective, that is how huge the crypto world has grown and the attention it garners from authorities.
These Bitcoins date back to 2012. James Zhong was the man who cheated on the Silk Road system and ran away with many coins. However, in 2022, he fell into a trap within the legal maze. The government is now trying to work out how far it can stretch with this digital treasure.
This is an event showing how the worlds of traditional finance and cryptocurrency are mixing. Government agencies are on their way toward learning how to deal with digital assets, they are working with crypto companies about how to do it. It's evidence of just how mainstream Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are becoming.