U.S. Government Transfers $606,000 in Bitcoin Tied to Bitfinex Hack to Coinbase

The U.S. government has long held substantial amounts of Bitcoin and Ether obtained through criminal forfeitures and judicial seizures, making any movement of those assets a closely watched signal for crypto markets. The Trump administration had previously pledged to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and said the government would not sell its holdings. Large transfers from official wallets therefore immediately raised concerns about a potential liquidation, putting both cryptocurrency prices and the credibility of that policy in focus.

In mid-July 2026, the U.S. government transferred more than 3,900 Bitcoin and about 35,000 Ether to Coinbase Prime in a single day, including one transaction involving 5,939 ETH. Estimates valued the assets at approximately $288 million to $310 million. Because Coinbase Prime offers both institutional custody and trading services, the transfers indicate only that the government is using the platform; no sale has been confirmed. The market is closely tracking the assets’ subsequent on-chain movements.

Bitfinex was hacked on August 2, 2016, resulting in the theft of 119,756 Bitcoin. The exchange compensated customers with BFX tokens and later completed their redemption. A U.S. court ruled that Bitfinex was the sole victim in the criminal case, meaning individual users cannot directly claim the seized assets from the government.

The U.S. Department of Justice seized 94,636 Bitcoin linked to the case in 2022, and the court’s latest ruling orders their return to Bitfinex. Under the platform’s commitment, up to 80% of the recovered proceeds, after costs, must be used to repurchase and burn LEO within 18 months of receiving the assets. The scale and timing of the program have become a focus for the market.