On July 29, the United States government moved $2 billion worth of Bitcoin, just two days after former President Donald Trump vowed that the US would never sell any of its Bitcoin holdings during a speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Arkham Intelligence, the government transferred 29,800 Bitcoin, which were seized from the Silk Road dark web marketplace in 2022, to an unknown wallet address. The funds have since been moved to another unknown wallet.
- The timing of the transfer raised eyebrows as it occurred shortly after Trump’s speech, where he promised not to sell the US-held Bitcoin and pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” by implementing crypto-friendly policies, including replacing SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
- In addition, Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced legislation to designate Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the United States, proposing a plan to acquire 5% of Bitcoin’s total supply as a Treasury asset.
Catherine Chen, head of VIP and institutional at Binance, commented that the attention Bitcoin is receiving from prominent US figures, including Trump, is a “positive sign” for digital assets. “What is clearly meaningful is that politicians and prominent industry leaders are explicitly stating their positions, recognizing the value of Bitcoin in the monetary system, and making it clear that crypto is important on their agenda,” said Chen. She also noted that Binance’s CPT Framework, focusing on Capital, People, and Technology, will be bolstered by the establishment of strategic Bitcoin reserves, potentially advancing the crypto market in the long term.
