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U.S. government-linked wallets transferred about 3,940 Bitcoin and 30,014 Ether to Coinbase Prime on July 13, moving assets tied to three criminal forfeiture cases.
The holdings were worth about $297 million using later market prices, while an estimate published near the transactions placed their value at $288.3 million. The transfer does not by itself confirm that the government plans to sell the assets.
Three Forfeiture Cases Supplied BTC and ETH
The Bitcoin included about 2,875 BTC seized in the Ryan Farace case and roughly 925.5 BTC linked to BTC-e, the shuttered crypto exchange accused by U.S. authorities of facilitating money laundering.
Farace, also known as “Xanaxman,” operated a dark web drug business and later conspired to launder Bitcoin proceeds while in prison. The BTC-e assets came from a separate enforcement action involving the exchange’s operations.
The Ether came from a wallet connected to Brian Krewson. Authorities linked Krewson to a scheme involving more than $54 million in concealed crypto and money-laundering activity.
Coinbase Prime Transfer Does Not confirm Sale
The assets reached Coinbase Prime through a mix of direct deposits and newly created intermediary wallets. Coinbase Prime provides custody, trading, financing and asset-management services to institutional clients.
Sending tokens to the platform can come before a sale, but it can also mean a custody change or consolidation of government-controlled assets. No federal agency had announced a sale at the time of the transfers.
Tracked US Wallets Still Hold Over $20B
The government has used Coinbase Prime for seized cryptocurrency before. Smaller transfers in recent months included Bitcoin connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack and Chainlink tokens seized from FTX and Alameda Research.
Wallets tracked as U.S. government-linked still held more than $20 billion in digital assets after the July 13 transfers, including over 324,000 BTC and about 28,000 ETH.
Bitcoin Reserve Order Limits BTC Sales
President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for BTC that has completed the forfeiture process and a separate stockpile for other government-owned digital assets.
Bitcoin deposited into the reserve is not meant to be sold. The order still permits disposals required by courts or law, including returning assets to verified victims, supporting law-enforcement operations and meeting statutory forfeiture obligations.
The Ether falls under the separate digital asset stockpile, where the Treasury has more room to determine responsible management. The next signal will be whether the assets stay at Coinbase Prime or move again under an official forfeiture action.
