The US government just staged its seized crypto for an exchange, and it took an extra hop to get there.
Wallets linked to the government moved about $288 million in seized bitcoin and ether to Coinbase Prime over about half a day Monday, blockchain data from Arkham shows. Ether went direct, while bitcoin took a detour through fresh intermediate wallets first.
The moves are despite a March 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump, which designated seized bitcoin as the country’s strategic bitcoin reserve and said it should not be sold.
A government wallet linked to the Ryan Farace “xanaxman” case sent 2,875 BTC worth about $178 million to a new address, which sent the full 2,875 BTC to a Coinbase Prime deposit wallet minutes later.
Another wallet linked to defunct exchange BTC-e sent 925,512 BTC worth $57 million through the same pattern, from the seizure address, directly out to Coinbase Prime. Both intermediate wallets were emptied.
However, the ether skipped the middle step. A wallet linked to Brian Krewson, the Oracle employee named in a $54 million money laundering scheme, sent 30,007 ETH worth $53.09 million directly to a Coinbase Prime deposit address.
