TL;DR
- U.S. Government Transfers Seized Bitcoin: Arkham Intelligence reported that the U.S. government transferred $4 million in seized Bitcoin to Coinbase. This coincides with the revival of Mt. Gox, which has resumed Bitcoin sales.
- Mt. Gox’s Bitcoin Transactions: Mt. Gox, the defunct crypto exchange, has re-entered the market by transferring approximately 42,587.49 BTC (worth $2.82 billion) to an unidentified address.
- Market Impact: The combined actions of the U.S. government and Mt. Gox have influenced Bitcoin’s price, which saw a minor 1% decrease to $66,500. Concerns about market oversaturation arise as creditors may sell large amounts of retrieved Bitcoin.
Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analytics company, has just announced that the government of the United States made a significant $4 million transfer in seized Bitcoin to Coinbase. This development comes at the same time as the revival of the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox, which has resumed its Bitcoin sales.
UPDATE: MT. GOX MOVING $2.85B BTC
Mt. Gox moved a total of $2.85B BTC to new wallets this morning in order to distribute 5110 BTC ($340.1M) BTC to 4 separate Bitstamp addresses.
Bitstamp is one of the 5 exchanges that the Mt. Gox Trustee is working with to return funds to Mt.… pic.twitter.com/KsKuxMpvZS
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 23, 2024
Furthermore, the recent introduction of Ethereum ETFs has contributed to the surge in Bitcoin’s price, adding more excitement to the current developments. These funds are linked to a drug case from 2020, which involved Ryan Farace, also known as “Xanaxman” on the dark web.
Farace was found guilty of distributing Xanax on illegal online platforms. His father, Joseph Farace, was accused of money laundering for moving 2,874 Bitcoins out of the country. Yet, by January 2024, the Department of Justice managed to retrieve 2,933 BTC from them and suggested auctioning off the confiscated cryptocurrency.
Coinbase Receives the Bitcoin
After moving the funds to Coinbase, the U.S. government has successfully drained Ryan Farace’s seized assets. It’s worth mentioning that this sum is just a fraction of Bitcoin’s massive daily trading volume, which now surpasses $45 billion.
Simultaneously, Mt. Gox—the once-prominent crypto exchange that suffered a catastrophic security breach in 2014—has re-entered the spotlight. On July 23, 2024, a Mt. Gox-linked address sent approximately 42,587.49 BTC (worth $2.82 billion) to an unidentified address.
This transaction is part of Mt. Gox’s ongoing efforts to repay creditors the $9 billion worth of Bitcoin stolen during the infamous hack.
Repayment Progress
The latest move is in line with the positive progress in the Mt. Gox repayment strategy. Just a few days ago, on July 15th, a smaller sum of Bitcoin (around $1,400) was sent from the Mt. Gox wallet to an address linked to the cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.
Bitstamp is one of the five firms selected by the Mt. Gox trustee to facilitate creditor payouts. Kraken and two Japanese exchanges—Bitbank and SBI VC Trade—have also made progress in distributing the allocated funds to creditors.
Impact on Bitcoin Price
Mt. Gox’s comeback and its significant Bitcoin stash have sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency world. After the announcement, Bitcoin saw a minor 1% decrease in value over a day, ending up at $66,500. Worries about oversaturation in the market arise if creditors opt to offload a large chunk of the retrieved Bitcoin.
