US Government-Linked Wallets Transfer $470M in BTC, WBTC and USDT to Possible Coinbase Prime Addresses

Wallets tied to the US government moved roughly $470 million worth of crypto on Oct. 7, sending BTC, WBTC and USDT to addresses that blockchain intelligence firm Arkham says likely belong to Coinbase Prime deposit wallets. Arkham said the funds trace back to assets seized from the Bitfinex hacker and holdings linked to Alameda Research. The on-chain activity indicates a transfer, not a confirmed sale, leaving the ultimate use of the funds unclear. Arkham noted the destination pattern resembles prior government transfers that routed through Coinbase Prime. In early July, about $288 million in Bitcoin and Ether was sent to Coinbase Prime and was described at the time as a deposit with no evidence of a sale. The latest movement involved more than Bitcoin alone. Alongside BTC, the wallets sent WBTC—Bitcoin represented as a wrapped token—and USDT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin. Because deposits to an institutional venue can precede a sale but can also reflect custody changes or internal asset management, the transaction should not be characterized as a liquidation based solely on on-chain data. Separately, The Coin Republic reported another government-linked transfer dated Oct. 7 in which 833.599 BTC (about $71.56 million) moved to Coinbase Prime, while 40,285 BNB (about $31.63 million) was sent to a newly created wallet, totaling roughly $103.19 million. Arkham's tracing suggested different asset origins across these moves, and the available data does not support drawing a direct link between the transactions beyond the fact that both reflect continued movement of government-linked crypto holdings.