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DOJ Cleared to Sell $6.5 Billion Worth of Seized Silk Road Bitcoins – Is the US BTC Reserve Dead?
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly given its approval for the sale of 69,000 Bitcoins (BTC), worth a staggering $6.5 billion, seized from the infamous online marketplace Silk Road. This development has sent shockwaves through the crypto community, with many speculating on what this means for the future of a proposed US Bitcoin strategic reserve.
As it stands, no balance decline has been observed in wallets linked to the seized BTC at press time, according to data provided by Arkham. This information has sparked intense debate among market enthusiasts and experts alike.
In theory, such a large-scale sale could potentially have a significant impact on the broader cryptocurrency market. However, some market analysts are downplaying the panic, suggesting that the $6.5 billion sell-off could be absorbed within just a week based on realized capital entering the market at a rate of roughly $1 billion per day.
One notable point to emerge from this situation is the possibility that any such sale may not occur through traditional cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, but rather through over-the-counter (OTC) markets. This claim was made by Glassnode’s founders, suggesting that a sell-off on such a large scale would not necessarily be reflected in real-time on public exchanges.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding this development, some market experts are already downplaying the potential impact of such an event. CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju, for instance, has stressed that even if the US government were to liquidate its seized BTC stash, it could have a limited effect on Bitcoin’s price due to the sheer size of the global cryptocurrency market.
As things stand, prediction sites like Polymarket and Kalshi are pricing in a 27% chance of a US Bitcoin strategic reserve being established within the first 100 days of the new administration. This figure has dropped from an initial 34%, suggesting that the likelihood of such a development may have decreased somewhat since the news broke.
It remains to be seen whether this sale will ultimately go ahead, but one thing is certain – the cryptocurrency market is abuzz with speculation and anticipation in equal measure.
Source: ambcrypto.com
