The U.S. government has transferred a small quantity of Bitcoin seized from Alameda Analysis’s Binance.US accounts three years in the past, renewing consideration on how federal businesses will deal with the remaining belongings.
Abstract
- The transferred Bitcoin got here from Alameda-linked accounts seized from Binance.US three years in the past.
- Arkham reported the transaction however didn’t establish it as a sale.
- Earlier Alameda-linked transfers despatched almost $2.9 million in seized crypto via government-controlled wallets.
- Federal guidelines usually limit gross sales of Bitcoin positioned within the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Arkham Intelligence reported the transaction on Aug. 26, describing the quantity as small and tracing the Bitcoin to Alameda accounts on Binance.US that U.S. authorities seized three years earlier.
The blockchain analytics agency didn’t publish the quantity in its listed publish or establish the receiving deal with. Arkham additionally didn’t say that officers had bought the Bitcoin, leaving the transaction’s objective unconfirmed.
“The US Government simply moved a small quantity of Bitcoin that had been seized from Alameda accounts on Binance US, 3 years in the past,” Arkham mentioned.
Arkham then requested whether or not the government would start liquidating the remaining Bitcoin linked to Alameda. The query was not tied to an announcement from the Division of Justice, the Treasury Division, or one other federal company.
The Bitcoin switch doesn’t verify a sale
Shifting Bitcoin between addresses information a change in custody or location on the blockchain, however the transaction alone doesn’t present whether or not the asset has been bought. A switch to a different government pockets could contain custody, accounting, or safety administration, whereas motion to an alternate could make a future sale attainable with out proving one occurred.
The vacation spot is particularly necessary as a result of federal businesses have often used Coinbase Prime to retailer and handle seized digital belongings. Coinbase’s institutional platform gives each custody and buying and selling companies, that means a deposit there can help a number of functions.
In July, U.S. government-linked wallets transferred almost $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime. The transaction included about 3,940 BTC and 30,014 ETH tied to separate enforcement circumstances, based on earlier transaction coverage.
Bitcoin linked to Ryan Farace, a web-based drug supplier often called “Xanaxman,” and the closed BTC-e alternate fashioned a part of the July switch. Ether linked to a separate cash laundering case additionally moved to Coinbase Prime.
No public blockchain file can present whether or not an alternate deposit resulted in an executed commerce until extra proof reveals a conversion or motion of the sale proceeds. The identical limitation applies to the most recent Alameda-linked Bitcoin transaction.
Alameda belongings have moved a number of instances in 2026
Federal wallets have processed different seized belongings tied to Alameda and FTX throughout 2026, offering a file of how authorities have dealt with smaller token holdings.
In Might, Arkham mentioned the government moved about $1.89 million in Render, Uniswap, The Sandbox, Masks Community, and Axie Infinity tokens to Coinbase Prime. The analytics agency traced the tokens to roughly $13 million in Alameda belongings seized from Binance accounts greater than three years earlier.
One other transaction adopted in June, when government-controlled wallets transferred almost $984,000 in FTX- and Alameda-linked cryptocurrency. At the least $768,000 of the overall went to Coinbase Prime, as crypto.information reported at the time.
Arkham mentioned the June belongings would go to the FTX property to assist repay collectors. The transaction included Chainlink and several other smaller tokens, whereas the remaining quantity moved via addresses linked to the identical seized asset group.
Federal wallets had additionally moved greater than $33 million in Alameda-linked cryptocurrency in December 2024. In line with an Arkham report, the batch included about $18 million in Ether, $13 million in BUSD, and smaller quantities of Wrapped Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, and Axie Infinity.
Arkham mentioned the 2024 belongings moved to a newly created deal with and famous that no official objective had been introduced. The agency introduced creditor distributions, pockets consolidation, and asset administration as attainable explanations somewhat than confirmed causes for the transfers.
U.S. reserve guidelines restrict some Bitcoin gross sales
President Donald Trump’s March 2025 govt order established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and directed the Treasury Division to fund it with Bitcoin lastly forfeited via prison or civil proceedings.
Below the order, Bitcoin deposited into the reserve can’t be bought and should stay a U.S. reserve asset. A latest Bitcoin reserve explainer estimated that the federal government held roughly 198,000 BTC as of mid-2026, though public trackers produce totally different totals primarily based on the addresses and authorized classes they embrace.
The White Home order doesn’t place each seized coin underneath an absolute ban on disposal. It permits businesses to return belongings to verified victims, adjust to courtroom orders, help regulation enforcement operations, and meet necessities underneath federal forfeiture legal guidelines.
Authorized standing, due to this fact, determines how a specific holding may be dealt with. Bitcoin that has been lastly forfeited and transferred into the reserve receives totally different remedy from property nonetheless concerned in a courtroom case, creditor restoration course of, or sufferer compensation plan.
The White Home additionally created a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile for forfeited belongings apart from Bitcoin. Treasury has extra room to handle or promote tokens held within the stockpile, whereas the order provides Bitcoin positioned within the reserve a common no-sale coverage.
No federal company has mentioned whether or not the Bitcoin moved on Aug. 26 had entered the reserve, remained assigned to the FTX restoration course of, or fell underneath one of many order’s exceptions.
FTX collectors stay tied to the seized belongings
Alameda Analysis operated because the buying and selling agency related to FTX earlier than the exchange collapsed in November 2022. Federal prosecutors later mentioned FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried used buyer deposits to finance Alameda’s operations, investments and mortgage repayments.
The Justice Division mentioned Bankman-Fried misappropriated billions of {dollars} deposited by FTX prospects and gave Alameda entry to the funds. A federal jury convicted him in November 2023 on seven counts, together with wire fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, commodities fraud conspiracy, and cash laundering conspiracy.
In March 2024, U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in jail. The Justice Division mentioned the sentence included forfeiture of greater than $11 billion, whereas prosecutors positioned FTX buyer losses at greater than $8 billion.
