Cryptocurrency information platform Arkham stated in a post that the US government, being one of the largest Bitcoin whales, is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF.
In the early morning of today (11th), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs, achieving a significant milestone for the crypto industry. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also issued a statement explaining that the main reason for the approval is the significant changes brought about by the Grayscale lawsuit, but still emphasized the speculative risks and illegal use of Bitcoin.
Arkham: The US government may be the biggest beneficiary of the ETF
Although Gensler still insists that approving the ETF does not mean they endorse Bitcoin, an indisputable fact is that the US government has indeed gained substantial benefits from the rise in Bitcoin prices.
According to a post on the cryptocurrency information platform Arkham a few hours ago on social platform X, the US government, being one of the largest Bitcoin whales, will also become the biggest beneficiary due to the rise in the currency price after the Bitcoin spot ETF is approved:
The US government holds over 213,000 BTC
According to Arkham’s analysis data, the US government currently holds over 213,000 BTC, with a current value exceeding $10 billion, a growth of $4 billion compared to mid-2023.
It is understood that between November 2020 and 2022, the US government confiscated over 200,000 BTC in three different actions from cybercriminals and the dark web market. Currently, these BTC are mainly stored in encrypted, password-protected offline hardware wallets controlled by the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, or other institutions. The specific details of the sources are as follows:
November 2020, Silk Road seizure – 69,369 BTC, current value over $3 billion
January 2022, Bitfinex hacker seizure – 94,643 BTC, current value over $4 billion
March 2022, seizure from Silk Road hacker James Zhong – 51,326 BTC, the US government still holds 41.5K BTC of this portion
Extended reading:
US government is the world’s third-largest BTC whale: Arkham: US holds over $6 billion worth of Bitcoin
Will the US sell BTC at a high point?
For a long time, how the US government handles these confiscated Bitcoins has been a topic of concern in the market because any sale could affect the currency price.
In fact, in February of last year, the US government did sell the 9,861 BTC previously owned by Silk Road on Coinbase and also announced that the remaining Bitcoins would be sold in batches within a year. Therefore, now that the Bitcoin price is rising, investors are starting to worry if the US government will take advantage of the possible approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF to sell.
However, looking at the past timeline, the US has been slow in converting Bitcoin to dollars. The US government seems to have neither the intention to HODL nor the action to sell during Bitcoin’s skyrocketing to gain substantial profits. Jarod Koopman, Executive Director of the Cybercrime and Forensic Services Division of the US Internal Revenue Service, has previously stated:
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