The US government transferred 3,940 Bitcoin to a Coinbase Prime wallet on June 26, according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence.
This transaction involved Bitcoin seized earlier in 2024 from convicted drug trafficker Banmeet Singh.
British authorities arrested Singh in London on drug distribution charges in 2019. He was extradited to the US in 2023. The US Department of Justice alleged that Singh operated a narcotics smuggling network with distributors across several states from 2012 to 2017.
As part of his sentence, Singh was forced to surrender over 8,100 Bitcoin (valued at roughly $150 million at the time) to US authorities. This marked the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever conducted by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Singh received a five-year prison sentence in April 2024, with credit for time served. He is reportedly now released and plans to return to his native India.
In recent weeks, market participants have raised concerns about potential government sell-offs impacting the Bitcoin market. These concerns were fueled by news of the German government selling its Bitcoin holdings, valued at approximately $2.76 billion at the time.
