TLDR
- The US government moved 264.863 BTC, worth about $23 million, to Coinbase on October 6, 2026.
- The coins are tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack and are part of a court-ordered restitution process, not a sale.
- A 2025 federal ruling required the seized Bitcoin to be returned to Bitfinex in-kind instead of as cash.
- Bitfinex plans to use the coins to redeem Recovery Right Tokens and buy back and burn its LEO token.
- The US government still holds a large Bitcoin reserve even after this and other recent transfers.
The US government sent a batch of Bitcoin to Coinbase this week, and the move is tied to one of the oldest unresolved cases in crypto history. On October 6, 2026, wallets linked to the US Marshals Service moved roughly 264.863 BTC, worth about $22.87 million, to Coinbase.
The U.S. government transferred out another 834 $BTC ($71.56M) and 40,285 $BNB ($31.63M) today.
Of these, 834 $BTC ($71.56M) was deposited into #CoinbasePrime.https://t.co/esJntewKzz pic.twitter.com/XDyp4A7mP7
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 7, 2026
The coins come from the 2016 Bitfinex hack, when hackers stole about 119,754 BTC from the exchange. It remains one of the largest thefts in the industry’s history.
This was not the first time these particular coins have moved. Back in April 2026, a smaller batch of about 8.2 BTC, worth roughly $606,000, went to a Coinbase Prime deposit address.
Coinbase Prime is the exchange’s institutional arm. It handles custody and trading for large clients, including government agencies.
Officials have described these transfers as custody steps rather than sales. That distinction matters for traders watching for signs of government Bitcoin hitting the open market.
The reason these coins are moving traces back to a 2025 federal court ruling. That ruling ordered the government to return the seized Bitcoin to Bitfinex directly, instead of converting it to cash first.
What Happens to the Returned Bitcoin
Authorities recovered about 94,636 BTC from the hack back in 2022. That recovery followed the arrest of Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, who had laundered the stolen funds.
U.S. Government Moves $103 Million in BTC, BNB; 833 BTC Sent to Coinbase Prime
U.S. government-linked wallets transferred 833.6 BTC worth about $71.6 million to Coinbase Prime and another 40,285 BNB worth about $31.6 million through several addresses to 0xBE7…81E, according to… pic.twitter.com/w05ABQzYa0
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 7, 2026
Lichtenstein was sentenced to five years in prison. Morgan received 18 months.
Bitfinex has laid out a two-part plan for the coins it receives. First, the exchange plans to use the Bitcoin to redeem Recovery Right Tokens, which were given to users who lost funds in the original hack.
Second, Bitfinex says it will put at least 80% of any remaining proceeds toward buying back and burning its UNUS SED LEO token.
Other Wallet Movements by US Marshals
This transfer was part of a larger wave of activity. On the same day, government wallets moved a total of 833.6 BTC worth about $71 million, marking the first movement from these wallets since August 26.
Onchain analyst Sani, who runs timechainindex.com, was first to spot the activity. He noted a small test transfer of 0.00115539 BTC went to Coinbase Prime before the larger batch followed.
The wallets also moved $31.63 million worth of BNB tied to forfeited FTX holdings. That included a small test transfer of 0.127 BNB followed by a much larger transfer of 40,285.07 BNB.
A separate 568 BTC transfer came from the Potapenko-Turogin case. That case involved a fake cloud mining operation called Hashflare, where the operators sold mining contracts tied to data centers that did not actually exist.
Even after these transfers, the government’s Bitcoin stash remains large. As of this week, the US government still holds about 323,693.83 BTC, valued at roughly $27.72 billion.
The roughly 264.863 BTC sent for Bitfinex restitution makes up a small fraction of that total holding.
