On-chain monitoring firms tracked a $103 million transfer of seized cryptocurrency by the US government on October 7, 2026. The movement included 833.6 BTC (approximately $71.56 million) and 40,285 BNB (approximately $31.63 million), completed within a nine-hour window.
The Bitcoin portion originated from two sources: 568.7 BTC from the Potapenko/Turogin forfeiture case and 264.9 BTC from Bitfinex hack seizures. Both tranches moved through unlabeled addresses before reaching Coinbase Prime deposit addresses. Coinbase Prime is the institutional custody platform that the US Marshals Service has used for seized digital assets.
The BNB tokens, seized from Alameda Research, followed a different path. They traveled through multiple intermediate addresses before settling at an unlabeled wallet address. Unlike the Bitcoin transfers, the BNB did not reach a labeled exchange address in the same transaction.
No official statement from the Treasury or Department of Justice has confirmed the purpose of the transfer. Market commentators noted that a transfer to custody does not necessarily indicate a planned sale, with analysts advising that subsequent outflows, exchange activity, or official statements should be monitored for confirmation of liquidation.
The transfer represents less than one percent of the US government's total crypto holdings. Government-linked addresses still hold approximately $28 billion in crypto, including roughly 324,000 BTC valued near $27.7 billion, plus positions in USDT, WBTC, and remaining BNB.
The transfer occurred as the House Financial Services Committee advanced markup of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill, which directs forfeited Bitcoin into a reserve under an Executive Order signed in March 2025. That order prohibits routine liquidation of Bitcoin holdings. Separate legislation has also been introduced to formalize a Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin seized assets.
