US government wallets shift $288M in seized bitcoin and ether to Coinbase Prime, per Arkham
On-chain analytics firm Arkham says U.S. government-linked wallets moved roughly 3,800 BTC and 30,007 ETH — over $288 million — to Coinbase Prime on July 13, drawn from criminal-case seizures.
Wallets tied to the U.S. government moved more than $288 million in bitcoin and ether to Coinbase Prime on Monday, July 13, according to on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, whose data was reported by The Block.
Arkham's tracking put the transfers at roughly 3,800.5 BTC and 30,007 ETH, moved across multiple transactions. The batches trace to assets seized or confiscated in criminal cases. Arkham labeled some of the source wallets under the names Ryan Farace — convicted of selling counterfeit Xanax on dark web markets — and Brian Krewson, who The Block reports allegedly helped store and launder $54 million in crypto tied to narcotics trafficking. Some of the moved coins were also linked to BTC-e, the unlicensed exchange that reportedly processed billions in illicit funds before its 2017 shutdown.
Coinbase Prime is the exchange's institutional arm, offering custody, trading and related services. A move to a Prime wallet is not itself a sale, and there's a specific reason to doubt one here: a March 2025 executive order from President Trump directed seized bitcoin into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and told federal agencies to stop selling seized assets. On that policy, transferring coins to a custodian is at least as consistent with consolidation or storage as with liquidation.
Arkham estimates U.S. government-linked wallets hold a crypto portfolio worth over $20 billion, including 324,552 BTC largely from law enforcement seizures, plus holdings in USDT, BNB and ZEC.
Key facts
- ~3,800.5 BTC and 30,007 ETH, worth over $288 million, moved to Coinbase Prime on Monday, July 13 — Arkham Intelligence, via The Block.
- Source wallets tied to seizures, including cases Arkham labeled Ryan Farace and Brian Krewson, and the defunct BTC-e exchange — The Block.
- U.S. government-linked wallets hold an estimated $20 billion-plus in crypto, including 324,552 BTC — Arkham.
- A March 2025 Trump executive order routed seized BTC into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and halted federal sales of seized assets — cited by The Block.
The real-world read
Two cautions. First, this is a single-source, on-chain read: Arkham's wallet labels and case attributions are inferences from blockchain data, not a government confirmation. No agency has announced or explained these moves, and The Block does not report one. Second, the instinct to read a transfer to an exchange as "the government is about to sell" runs straight into the standing executive order that tells agencies not to sell seized coins — a point The Block itself flags. A move to Coinbase Prime custody is not evidence of a sale, and no timeline, purpose or destination beyond the Prime deposit has been disclosed.
Opinion, and whose
The Block notes that "although possible, these transfers may not signal an imminent sale," and points to the March 2025 order as the reason. No sale intent has been attributed to any government official.
Sources
- The Block (Danny Park), reporting Arkham Intelligence on-chain data — the transfer amounts, wallet labels, case background, the $20B portfolio figure, and the executive-order context. Secondary outlet; its underlying data source is Arkham. The Block discloses that Foresight Ventures is its majority investor; no marketing or sponsored material was used here.
This is news, not financial advice.