The US government just staged its seized crypto for an exchange, and it took an extra leap to get there.
Government-linked wallets transferred about $288 million worth of bitcoin and ether seized from Coinbase Prime in about half a day on Monday, according to Arkham blockchain data. Ether went straight, while bitcoin first took a detour through new intermediary wallets.
These moves are happening despite a March 2025 executive order from President Donald Trump, who designated the seized bitcoin as the country’s strategic bitcoin reserve and said it should not be sold.
Government portfolio linked to Ryan Farace, ‘xanaxman’ affair, sent 2,875 people $BTC Worth approximately $178 million to a new address, which forwarded all 2,875 $BTC to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet a few minutes later.
A second wallet linked to a defunct exchange $BTC-e sent 925.512 $BTC Worth $57 million via the same scheme, from the entry address, directly to Coinbase Prime. The two intermediate wallets have been emptied.
Ether, however, skipped the intermediate step. A wallet connected to Brian Krewson, the Oracle employee named in a $54 million laundering scheme, sent 30,007 $ETH Worth $53.09 million directly to a Coinbase Prime deposit address.