Markets
US Government’s $2 Billion Bitcoin Transfer Rocks Cryptocurrency Markets

Summary
- A cryptocurrency wallet associated with the U.S. government transferred $2 billion in bitcoin to an unidentified wallet on July 29, 2024.
- The transferred bitcoins are believed to be part of funds previously seized from the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
- The move was followed by a drop in the price of Bitcoin, which fell below $67,000.
- According to Arkham Intelligence, the U.S. government still holds over $12 billion in seized bitcoin.
- The move comes shortly after Donald Trump promised to create a “strategic national bitcoin reserve” if he is re-elected.
A wallet associated with the U.S. government transferred approximately $2 billion in bitcoin on July 29, 2024. The transfer, which involved nearly 28,000 bitcoins, was tracked by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence and is believed to be linked to funds previously seized from the now-defunct dark web marketplace Silk Road.
UPDATE: The US government has split the 2 billion Bitcoin into two addresses:
10,000 BTC ($669.35 million): bc1qlap8hkt9genaljz5nt2zlehhudx63zlahr2zek
19,800 BTC ($1.33 billion): bc1qngydl7hmgdtmuqjmtsyj3pcwszv0yn5mj6kz4cWe believe this represents a deposit of 10,000 BTC at an institution… Italian: https://t.co/0aULBXGd8P photo.twitter.com/RTwtaqvMmM
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 29, 2024
The massive transfer occurred in two stages. Initially, the bitcoin was moved to an unidentified wallet. Shortly thereafter, it was split into two separate addresses: one containing 19,800 bitcoin (worth about $1.3 billion) and another containing 10,000 bitcoin (worth about $670 million). Arkham Intelligence suggested that the latter transfer may represent “a deposit to an institutional custodian/service.”
This significant movement of funds had an immediate impact on the cryptocurrency market. The price of Bitcoin, which was hovering around $70,000 earlier in the day, plunged below $67,000 after the move. This 5% drop from the day’s high has raised concerns among investors about potential selling pressure from government-held bitcoin.
The timing of this move is particularly noteworthy, having occurred just two days ago. following former US President Donald Trump’s appearance at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville.
In his speech, Trump promised to create a “national strategic bitcoin reserve” if re-elected, a statement that initially buoyed market sentiment.
The U.S. government’s bitcoin holdings have come from various seizures, with the Silk Road case being one of the most notable. In late 2023, a U.S. appeals court finalized a warrant formalizing the seizure of 69,370 bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies linked to Silk Road. The government’s cryptocurrency wallet, even after this transfer, still holds more than $12 billion in bitcoins, according to Arkham Intelligence.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. government has moved large amounts of seized cryptocurrency. In April, a government cryptocurrency wallet sent nearly 2,000 BTC to a Coinbase Prime hot wallet. The transfer was related to the U.S. Marshals Service’s $32.5 million custody contract with Coinbase.
The government’s handling of seized cryptocurrencies has been a topic of interest and debate. While some see these holdings as a potential windfall for the U.S. Treasury, others express concerns about the market impact of large-scale sales. The government’s approach to the handling and potential liquidation of these assets could have significant implications for the broader cryptocurrency market.
Adding another layer of complexity to the situation, Trump reiterated over the weekend that he would commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht if re-elected president. That statement, combined with his promise of a national bitcoin reserve, highlights the growing importance of cryptocurrency issues in U.S. political discourse.
Markets
Bitcoin, Ethereum See Red as Markets Crash on Volatility

Bitcoin AND Etherealalong with the rest of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, appear to be in hibernation on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin Price is still below $65,000 and 2.2% lower than it was this time yesterday, according to CoinGecko data. Things are worse for the Ethereum Pricewhich is 3.7% lower than 24 hours ago at $3,185.22. The drop in ETH’s price is identical to that of Lido Staked Ethereum (stETH), a liquid staking token for Ethereum.
In recent days, falling prices have led to the liquidation of derivative contracts worth $225 million, according to Coin glassAnd about half of that, about $100 million, was liquidated in the last 12 hours.
When a trader is liquidated, it means that their position in the market has been forcibly closed by an exchange or brokerage due to a margin call or insufficient collateral. Margin is especially important when it comes to leveraged positions, which allow traders to control a multiple of their deposit, such as opening a $10,000 position with only $1,000 in their account.
Now that Bitcoin has been in the red for three days in a row, there is a chance that the world’s oldest and largest cryptocurrency could sink even further, BRN analyst Valentin Fournier said in a note shared with Decrypt.
“Bitcoin has closed in the red for three days in a row, with one-way trading showing limited resistance from bulls. Ethereum had a slightly positive Monday with strong resistance from bears who have won the last two days,” he wrote. “This momentum could take BTC to the $62,500 resistance or even the $58,000 territories.”
Looking ahead, Fournier said BRN’s strategy will be to “reduce exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum and find a better entry point after the dip.”
This is despite Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments yesterday on interest rates being widely regarded as accommodating and indicative of FOMC rate cuts in September.
Singapore-based cryptocurrency trading firm QCP Capital said the rally in stocks, which sent the S&P 500 up 1.6% from Wednesday’s close, was not felt in cryptocurrency markets.
“Cryptocurrencies have seen a broad sell-off overnight and into this morning,” the firm wrote in a trading note. “The market remains poised as traders pay close attention to daily ETH ETF outflows and further supply pressure from Mt Gox and the US government.”
Meanwhile, the other top-ranking coins are showing mixed performance.
Solana (SOL) is down 7.2% since yesterday to $169.13. Things are even worse for its most popular meme coins. In the past 24 hours, the most popular meme coins Dogwifhat (WIF) are down 12% and BONK (BONK) is down 9%, according to CoinGecko data.
Their dog-themed competitor, Ethereum OG Dogecoin (DOGE), the only meme coin in Coingecko’s top 10, is down nearly 4% since yesterday and is currently trading at $0.1205.
XRP (XRP) dropped to $0.608, which is 7% lower than it was at this time yesterday.
Binance’s BNB Coin (BNB) has kept pace with BTC and is currently trading at $571, down 2.4% from yesterday. Toncoin (TON), the native token of The Open Network, is down just 0.4% over the past day.
This leaves the stablecoins USDC (USDC) and Tether (USDT), both of which are stable as they maintain their 1:1 ratio with the US dollar.
Markets
XRP Market Activity Drops During Ripple-SEC Talks: Price Steady

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold another closed-door meeting with Ripple on Thursday, as the market hopes for a possible resolution to the legal battle between the two entities.
However, the cryptocurrency market remains relatively bearish, with the price and trading volume of XRP down in the last 24 hours.
Ripple holders take no risk
At press time, XRP is trading at $0.60. The altcoin’s price has dropped 6% over the past 24 hours. During that time, trading volume was $27 million, down 27%.
The SEC met before with the digital payment company on July 25. While the outcome of that meeting remains unknown, the Sunshine Act Notice for Thursday’s meeting includes one additional topic of discussion from the July 25 closed meeting: the instituting and resolving injunctive relief. That has market participants speculating whether a settlement is imminent.
In an exclusive interview with BeinCrypto, Ryan Lee, Lead Analyst at Bitget Research, noted that:
“This meeting will discuss possible resolution options for the Ripple Lawsuit. The founder of Ripple Labs said that a legal settlement could be announced soon. If an official settlement plan is released, it could positively impact XRP’s price movement.”
However, an assessment of XRP’s price movements on a 4-hour chart shows a spike in bearish bias as the market awaits the outcome of this crucial meeting. Its Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) indicator readings show that its MACD line (blue) has crossed below its signal line (orange).
XRP 4 Hours Analysis. Source: Trading View
Traders use this indicator to gauge price trends, momentum, and potential buying and selling opportunities in the market. When an asset’s MACD is set this way, it is a bearish signal that suggests selling activity is outweighing buying momentum.
Additionally, the altcoin relative strength index (RSI), at 46.08, is currently below its neutral 50 line and in a downtrend. This indicator measures overbought and oversold market conditions for an asset.
To know more: How to Buy XRP and Everything You Need to Know
XRP 4 Hours Analysis. Source: Trading View
At 43.83 at the time of writing, XRP’s RSI suggests a growing preference among the market participants for tokin distribution.
XRP Price Prediction: Derivatives Traders Exit Market
The XRP derivatives market has also seen a decline in trading activity over the past 24 hours. According to Coinglass, derivatives trading volume has plummeted 18% and open interest has dropped 10% during that period.
Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futurethat have not yet been resolved. When it drops, traders close their positions without opening new ones. This is a bearish signal that reflects a lack of confidence in any potential positive price movement.
According to Lee, the outcome of the meeting with the SEC “would have a significant impact on the price movement of the token.” If the outcome is favorable, the price of the token could rise towards $0.75 in August.
To know more: Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030
XRP 4 Hours Analysis. Source: Trading View
On the other hand, if no favorable resolutions are reached, the price could plummet to $0.50.
Disclaimer
In line with the Trust Project guidelines, this price analysis article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. BeInCrypto strives to provide accurate and unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice. Always conduct your own research and consult a professional before making any financial decisions. Please note that our Terms and conditions, Privacy PolicyAND Disclaimers They have been updated.
Markets
Bitcoin’s Dominance Hits Three-Year High, But Analysts Say Altcoins Are Ready to Rebound

Bitcoin is now the dominant force in the cryptocurrency market, surpassing 53% of the total cryptocurrency market, a stronger share than it has been in the past three years.
Bitcoin’s market cap now stands at $1.27 trillion, second according to CoinGecko data. In contrast, the total cryptocurrency market cap is $2.43 trillion, with Ethereum occupying 15.9% of the market, worth $389 billion.
Bitcoin’s rise to dominance this year is unusual, as altcoins typically do better than Bitcoin in a bull market. While meme coins made a strong comeback during Bitcoin’s rally to all-time highs earlier this year, the so-called “wealth effect” It has not been appreciated as much by mid-range coins, such as Ethereum and Cardano.
“ETF flows fundamentally alter market dynamics,” he wrote Meltem Demirors, former chief strategy officer at CoinShares, tweeted Wednesday: “BTC gains no longer translate to alts and the longer tail of crypto.”
Bitcoin’s takeover has continued even as the market cap of Tether (USDT) continues to grow, the world’s largest stablecoin and the third-largest cryptocurrency after BTC and ETH. Stablecoins are backed by fiat currencies and are excluded from some measures of Bitcoin dominance due to fundamentally different value models.
The surge continued to pace even after the launch of Ethereum spot ETFs last week, which ironically culminated in a news sell-off event, and net outflows from new investment products since they were launched. This went against the predictions of K33 Search so far, which predicted that ETFs would catalyze ETH’s growth over the next five months.
Despite the poorer performance of the alts, there is reason to believe that they are ready to bounce back very soon.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said Tuesday that whales are “preparing for the next altcoin rally,” as limit buy orders for assets other than BTC and ETH are on the rise.
The executive shared a chart showing how the “cumulative difference between purchase volume and sales volume” has increased in recent months.
“The indicator measures the difference between buy and sell orders over a year,” CryptoQuant told Decrypt. A buy/sell order is a pre-set request to buy or sell a cryptocurrency if it hits a certain price level, which creates resistance and support levels.
“If the trend is up, it means that more people are placing buy orders, showing strong interest in buying,” CryptoQuant said.
By Ryan-Ozawa.
Markets
XRP and SOL Retrace as BTC Price Drops to 2-Week Lows (Market Watch)

After Monday’s crash, in which BTC fell by several thousand dollars, the scenario has repeated itself once again in the last 12 hours, with the asset falling to a 2-week low of $63,300.
Alt coins followed suit, with most of the market in the red today. SOL and XRP lead the way from the higher cap alts.
BTC Drops To $63.3K
After a violent Thursday last week, when BTC crashed to $63,400, the asset went on the offensive over the weekend and surged above $69,000 on Saturday, as the community prepared for Donald Trump’s appearance at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
His speech was followed by more volatility before the cryptocurrency settled around $67,500 on Sunday. Monday started off rather optimistically for the bulls as bitcoin hit a 7-week high of $70,000.
However, he failed to maintain his run and conquer that level decisively. On the contrary, he was rejected bad and dropped to $66,400 by the end of Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were less eventful as BTC remained still around $66,500.
The last 12 hours or so have brought another crash. Bears have pushed the leading digital asset down hard, which has fallen to a 2-week low of $63,300 (on Bitstamp), leaving over $200 million in liquidations.
Despite the current rebound to $64,500, BTC’s market cap has fallen to $1.270 trillion, but its dominance over alts is recovering and has reached 52.6%.
Bitcoin/Price/Chart 01.08.2024. Source: TradingView
The Alts are back in red
Ripple’s native token has been at the forefront of the market challenge in recent days as pumped up to a multi-month high of over $0.66. However, its run was also interrupted and XPR fell by more than 6% in the last day to $0.6.
The other big loser among the larger-cap alternatives is SOL, which has lost 8% of its value and is now struggling to get below $170.
The rest of this altcoin cohort is also in the red, with ETH, DOGE, BNB, AVAX, ADA, SHIB, and LINK all seeing drops between 2 and 5%.
The total cryptocurrency market cap lost another $70 billion overnight, falling below $2.4 trillion today on CG.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto SPECIAL OFFER (sponsored)
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