- The US Government transferred 97.34 BTC worth $8.46 million from seized funds.
- This transfer involved moving BTC to new wallets, which are under federal control.
- The move supports President Trump’s aims to hold Bitcoin as a long-term investment.
The US government transferred over $8 million worth of Bitcoin from a storage wallet to a new wallet on Thursday. This transfer involves Bitcoin seized from Wanpadet Sae-Heng, a Thai national implicated in an alleged scam. According to Arkham Intelligence data, about 97.33594934 BTS, valued at approximately $8.46 million, based on current market prices, were transferred. The transaction was split, with $10 (0.00011516 BTC) sent to the address ending 7t73kfg and the $8.46 million to the address 5asrs55.
Wanpadet Sae-Heng was involved in a “pig butchering” scam, targeting US victims and defrauding them of their investments. The US government seized his assets in 2022, which not only included Bitcoin but also other cryptocurrencies, including 2.56 million DOGE, 884.33 ETH, and 85 million ADA. This confiscated Bitcoin portion was moved to a storage wallet in 2022 and remained there until the recent transfer.
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US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
Previous to this significant transfer, Bo Hines said in his X post that the US government possessed around 400,000 Bitcoin but sold nearly half of it prematurely for less than $1 billion, which now would be worth over $17 billion. Currently, it maintains a total of 198,012 BTC, suggesting the latest transfer to a new wallet remains under federal control.
The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, signed by the executive order on March 7, 2025, mandates that the reserve be capitalized with Bitcoin from confiscated funds such as those from Sae-Heng’s case. The government will not sell these assets, focusing on maintaining them as reserve assets. Further, the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are tasked with developing budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin and determining management strategies for the US Digital Asset Stockpile.
This transfer underscores the US government’s evolving approach to managing seized digital assets under the newly established Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. By holding rather than liquidating Bitcoin, the government is setting the stage for future policies that could redefine Bitcoin’s role in the financial landscape.
