U.S. wallets move $1.01 billion in seized bitcoin

U.S. government-linked wallets transferred 12,267 bitcoin, worth about $1.01 billion, from a wallet associated with bitcoin seized in the Bitfinex hack to two new, unlabeled addresses on October 8. The destinations were not identified as cryptocurrency exchanges, and the transfer does not establish that the government sold the coins. Arkham wallet data recorded the movement, with the bitcoin sent to addresses holding about 6,000 BTC and 6,267 BTC. The available reporting does not show what the government intended to do with the assets or whether they were later moved or converted into dollars. A change in wallet location alone does not confirm a sale. The coins came from a wallet associated with bitcoin seized in connection with the 2016 hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange. Nearly 120,000 BTC were stolen in the hack, and federal investigators recovered more than 94,000 BTC in 2022. The transfer amount is close to a separate recovery of about 12,267 BTC that Arkham described in September 2026, but the reporting does not establish that the coins moved October 8 were that recovery.