Key Insghts:
- US government transferred more than 667 BTC to a new wallet.
- On-chain analyst IT Tech claimed it’s an internal transfer.
- The latest move is likely related to the US government’s policy to establish strategic Bitcoin reserve.
The US government moved more than 667 BTC to a new wallet on Tuesday. This sparked speculation in the crypto community, causing Bitcoin price to tumble from $113K to $110K levels.
Is the US government preparing to sell BTC amid the prolonged shutdown, or part of the Trump administration’s policy related to national strategic reserves?
US Government Moving 667 BTC Sparks Selloff Concern
The US government-linked wallet address transferred 667.624 BTC worth $74.65 million to a new address, according to Arkham data on October 14.
Bitcoin price falters in response to anticipation of a selloff amid no current signs signaling the government shutdown’s end.
On-chain data further revealed that the U.S. government holds 197.354K BTC worth more than $22 billion.
On-chain analyst IT Tech claimed it’s just an internal transfer. The transaction showed the U.S. government sent 15 BTC ($1.68 million) to “bc1q5l…zv9tmq.”
The remaining 652.62 BTC ($73.11 million) was likely returned to “bc1qan…wn62xs,” which is also controlled by the U.S. government.
However, Bitcoin price still ended up moving downwards due to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech later today.
Any guidance on Fed rate cuts in the monetary policy talks will help bring the much-anticipated recovery in the crypto market.
US Government Establishing Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
According to research by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, governments around the world could hold $75 billion in strategic Bitcoin and crypto reserves.
As The Coin Republic reported earlier, US President Donald Trump’s embrace of crypto has led the U.S. government to spearhead a global push to establish strategic Bitcoin reserves.
The latest Bitcoin move is likely related to the US Presidential Actions regarding the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the United States Digital Asset Stockpile.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly confirmed the U.S. holds $17 billion in Bitcoin. Also, Bessent told CleanSpark CEO S Matthew Schultz that the government will buy more Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Price Ahead of Jerome Powell’s Speech
At the time of writing, Bitcoin price was trading at $111,114, down nearly 3% in the last 24 hours. The 24-hour low and high for BTC price were $110,187 and $116,020, respectively.
Furthermore, the trading volume slumped by 18% in the last 24 hours, indicating traders are staying away from the market amid rising volatility.
Analyst Ted Pillows pointed out that a there’s small liquidity cluster around the $107,000-$109,000 level. However, he believes BTC price will fall despite the big liquidity cluster around the $116,000 and $120,000 level.
CoinGlass data showed buying in the derivatives market in the last few hours. At the time of writing, the total BTC futures open interest increased to $73.55 billion, up 0.86% in the last 4 hours.
BTC futures OI on CME dropped by more than 5% and climbed by 1.20% on Binance. This signals cautious trading in the market.