The US government's planned sale of approximately $118 million in seized Silk Road Bitcoin (BTC) should not be seen as a cause for concern, market commentators say.
Confiscation on January 10th newsThe report, which went viral on social media on January 24th, indicates that the government plans to dispose of 2,934 BTC after the January 8th policy. sentencing Silk Road Xanax dealer Ryan Fares and his 72-year-old father Joseph Fares were charged with money laundering conspiracy.
While several members of the community share Concerned that the auction could lead to the “dumping” of millions of dollars in Bitcoin, Stephen Lubka, managing director of the Bitcoin exchange Swan He was one of many who argued that the outflow from Bitcoin Trust was “peanuts” compared to the outflow. last week.
“Peanuts, we eat four times more than GBTC sales for breakfast,” Lubka said.
GBTC has sold 106,575 BTC worth $4.2 billion since converting to a Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund on January 11th, with the most recent outflow being 10,871 BTC on January 24th.
Peanuts, we eat 4x GBTC sales for breakfast https://t.co/OHM2Lb1Fcf
— Stephen Lubka ☀️ (@DzambhalaHODL) January 25, 2024
The US government's planned sale is also only 1.5% of the estimated total of 194,188 BTC, or $7.7 billion, seized in three criminal cases. According to data from cryptocurrency company 21.co. In total, this represents less than 1% of Bitcoin's circulating supply.
There are three ways the U.S. government transports and sells Bitcoin:
- The 2016 Bitfinex hack led to the seizure of 94,643 BTC in January 2022.
- 69,369 BTC seized from Silk Road in November 2020.
- 51,326 BTC seized from Silk Road hacker James Zhong.
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Approximately 41,000 BTC was scheduled to be offloaded in four sales throughout 2023.
The US government has been known to put Bitcoin up for auction from time to time, most notably In 2014, venture capitalist Tim Draper scooped up nearly 30,000 BTC at auction and purchased it.
Recently, the government has been moving to sell seized cryptocurrencies on exchanges rather than auctions, and the last confirmed sale was 9,118 BTC in March 2023.
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