Uncle Sam’s Crypto Caper: $606K Bitcoin Shuffle to Coinbase!

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Well, bless my stars and stripes, the good ol’ US government has gone and shuffled 8.2 Bitcoins (BTC), worth a cool $606,000, over to Coinbase Prime.

Seems this little financial fandango is tied to that old Bitfinex hack from 2016, according to the sleuths at Arkham Intelligence. Who’d have thought the feds would be moonlighting as crypto cowboys?

Why This Bitcoin Won’t Be Buying Any Yeehaw Hats Soon

Now, the wallet didn’t just mosey on over in one go-oh no. It split the move into a 7.999 BTC transaction and a dainty 0.197 BTC deposit, both headed to the same Coinbase Prime address. Talk about hedging your bets!

Follow us on X for more tales of financial shenanigans as they unfold.

THE US GOVERNMENT IS SELLING BITCOIN

The US Government just moved $606.47K to Coinbase Prime. This BTC was seized from the Bitfinex Hacker Ilya Lichtenstein.

Will they sell the stolen BTC on Coinbase?

– Arkham (@arkham) April 17, 2026

Whenever the government starts moving crypto, folks start whispering about liquidations. But hold your horses-these coins are tied up tighter than a knot at a sailor’s convention. A federal court already decreed that 94,643 BTC should go back to Bitfinex, making them the sole beneficiary of this wild west restitution.

This latest transfer is just the tip of the iceberg. The feds have been busy bees, moving coins on March 3 and April 10, 2026. As of April, Uncle Sam’s crypto stash sits pretty at 328,361 Bitcoin, worth a jaw-dropping $24 billion. This latest move? A mere 0.0024% of the pile. Pocket change, really.

Now, let’s not forget the star of this show: Ilya Lichtenstein. Back in 2016, he pulled off 2,000 fraudulent transactions to swipe 119,754 BTC from Bitfinex. For his troubles, he got a 5-year vacation in the federal pokey, starting in November 2024. But thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, he waltzed out early in January 2026. His wife, Heather Morgan, joined him in pleading guilty to money laundering in August 2023. Quite the family business, eh?

Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early.
I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can.

To the supporters, thank you for everything.
To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.

– Ilya Lichtenstein (@cipherstein) January 2, 2026

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2026-04-17 11:31