BITCOIN
3 hours ago
No Comments
Menu
On June 26, a total of 3,940 Bitcoins were transferred to a Coinbase Prime account, as detailed by onchain data from Arkham Intelligence. This transaction occurred precisely at 5:00 pm UTC and involved Bitcoins confiscated from Banmeet Singh, a convicted drug trafficker, earlier in 2024.
Banmeet Singh was detained by British authorities in 2019 in London on allegations of drug distribution. Following his arrest, he was extradited to the U.S. in 2023. The U.S. Department of Justice reported that between 2012 and 2017, Singh operated a large-scale drug trafficking operation that spanned several states including Maryland, New York, North Dakota, Washington, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.
As a result of the legal proceedings, Singh had to forfeit over 8,100 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $150 million at that time. This forfeiture was part of what the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) described as the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever conducted by the agency. In April 2024, Singh received a prison sentence of five years, but he was credited for time already served and was released by U.S. authorities. Following his release, he reportedly made arrangements to return to his home country of India, as per a report from The Columbus Dispatch.
Recent weeks have seen growing concerns among market observers about potential government sell-offs of Bitcoin, which could impact market dynamics. This apprehension was heightened by news of the German government liquidating Bitcoins valued at approximately $2.76 billion.
On the same day as the aforementioned transaction, another transfer saw 345 Bitcoins moved to a wallet identified as “Flow Traders” at 9:27 am UTC. Moreover, the United States holds a significant amount of Bitcoin, roughly 214,000, valued at about $13 billion, making it the largest governmental holder of the digital currency, according to Arkham Intelligence’s records.
Adding to market worries is the ongoing liquidation by the Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate, which is set to distribute 140,000 Bitcoins to compensate the victims of the 2014 collapse of the exchange. Despite these concerns, the overall balance of Bitcoins on exchanges has reached a six-year low, providing a stabilizing effect on the market prices amidst these pressures.
