On Aug. 14, the United States government transferred approximately 10,000 Bitcoin to a wallet address ending in "noe" at 15:38:31 UTC, as reported by Arkham Intelligence.

The onchain analytics firm noted that these funds, currently valued at $593.91 million, were seized during the Silk Road raid.

This is the latest significant transfer of Bitcoin held by the U.S. government, following a previous transfer of 29,800 BTC—worth nearly $2 billion—on July 29, 2024, from government wallets to an unknown address.

The U.S. government currently holds around 203,000 BTC, valued at roughly $12 billion at the time of writing.

This $12 billion in Bitcoin holdings makes the U.S. government the largest geopolitical holder of Bitcoin, a point emphasized by 2024 Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Trump has pledged not to sell any of the government’s Bitcoin holdings if elected and has stated at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, that he would create a "strategic Bitcoin stockpile" if he wins the Presidency.

Trump has also suggested using Bitcoin to help pay off the government's $35 trillion national debt.

Even a hint that a large Bitcoin holder, such as a government, might sell a substantial amount of the decentralized asset can cause market volatility.

In July, crypto markets reacted negatively to news of the German government selling its Bitcoin holdings, triggering fear, uncertainty, and doubt among investors.

The German government ended up selling 50,000 Bitcoin, worth approximately $2.9 billion at the time, and currently holds just 0.007 BTC, according to Arkham Intelligence.

This sell-off has since become a topic of ridicule among analysts and crypto commentators, who note that by selling before July 13, the German government missed out on $124 million in potential profits by not waiting for Bitcoin prices to recover.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/breaking-us-government-moves-10-000-bitcoin

https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/usg

https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/germany