By Moving Around $2 Billion Worth of Bitcoin at a Cost of Just $1.48, the US Government Has Inadvertently Advertised the Cryptocurrency’s Efficiency

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The US government may have inadvertently unleashed one of the biggest ad campaigns in favor of Bitcoin's use case by moving a portion of its seized BTC stash at a phenomenally attractive cost point.

For the benefit of those who might not be aware, before it was shut down by the Feds in 2013, Silk Road had become one of the largest dark web marketplaces in the world, selling contraband items like LSD, heroin, cocaine, and other illegal drugs, while hiding behind the relative anonymity offered by Bitcoin. The marketplace handled $214 million worth of illicit transactions in the three-year period prior to its sudden demise.

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As part of its enforcement action against Silk Road, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) seized 50,676.17851897 Bitcoins in 2022 after raiding the home of James Zhong, who stole this stash from Silk Road in 2012.

The DOJ now engaged in periodic transactions to liquidate this stash of seized Bitcoins. This brings us to the crux of the matter. The DOJ recently moved 30,174.70 Bitcoins - worth around $2 billion - at a transaction cost of just $1.48. The agency then sent 2,000 BTC from this pile to a Coinbase wallet, likely for liquidation purposes.

Of course, by moving such large values at an extremely low cost, the US government has just inadvertently demonstrated the underlying efficiency of the Bitcoin Network.

Note that the DOJ engages in periodic transactions to move or liquidate a part of this seized Bitcoin stash. Back in 2023, the agency had sold 9,861 coins, worth $216 million at the time.

Meanwhile, as per the analysis by Rekt Capital, Bitcoin is currently undergoing its customary retrace prior to the much-anticipated halving event later in April, when