DOJ cleared to sell $6.5B Silk Road Bitcoin – No more U.S. BTC reserve?
- DOJ has reportedly authorised the sale of seized 69K BTC, which Trump deliberate to repurpose for strategic reserve.
- No seized BTC had been moved from key wallets as of this writing.
Crypto Twitter has been abuzz with hypothesis that the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) greenlighted the sale of 69K Bitcoins [BTC], price $6.5B, seized from Silk Highway.
The replace was first shared by media writer DB Information, citing a U.S. official.
In an X (previously Twitter) put up dated the ninth of January, the writer stated,
“The U.S. Govt has been given the greenlight to liquidate 69,000 BTC ($6.5B) from Silk Highway, an official confirmed to DB Information as we speak. Fascinating scenario lower than 2 weeks away from the brand new admin who vowed to not promote.”
Supply: X
What’s subsequent for U.S. BTC strategic reserve?
Market sentiment has at all times been impacted at any time when updates on the U.S. authorities’s motion of BTC floor.
Provided that President-elect Donald Trump pledged to type a U.S. BTC strategic reserve (SBR) utilizing the above seized BTC, potential actions are much more scrutinized by the market.
Some neighborhood members speculated that the seized BTC had already been bought by way of a ‘credit score line.’ One consumer claimed,
“The “seized BTC” that was meant for use for a ‘strategic reserve’ [under the Trump administration] was bought off already, with a credit score line sanctioned by Coinbase.”
Some flagged the replace as FUD. In truth, Arkham data confirmed no stability decline in wallets linked to seized BTC at press time.
Supply: Arkham
Nonetheless, if true, the sale may occur earlier than Trump’s presidential inauguration. Based on some market specialists, even such a situation wouldn’t massively detour BTC.
Glassnode founders clarified that such a sale wouldn’t occur by way of exchanges however by way of OTC (over-the-counter) markets. So, it received’t suppress the king coin.
Supply: X
On his half, CryptoQuant founder Ki Younger Ju downplayed the panic, reinforcing that the potential $6.5B sell-off may very well be easily absorbed by the market. He mentioned,
“Final 12 months, $379B entered the market based mostly on realized cap—roughly $1B per day. The U.S. govt promoting $6.5B may very well be absorbed in only a week. Don’t panic.”
All mentioned, prediction websites like Polymarket and Kalshi priced a +40% likelihood of a U.S. BTC strategic reserve in 2025.
Nonetheless, at press time, the percentages of that occuring within the first 100 days of the brand new administration declined from 34% to 27%.
