​​This Multibillion Bitcoin Dump By US Gov Could Be a Drop in | Crypto Land

​​This Multibillion Bitcoin Dump By US Gov Could Be a Drop in the Bucket.

The bitcoin (BTC) price has been a runaway train of late and there is seemingly nothing that can get in its way. Some believe that even if one of the largest BTC whales, the US Government, decides to sell its stash now worth billions of USD it wouldn't have a material effect on the market as BTC trading volumes more than doubled in a month.

As reported, in November, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has forfeited BTC 69,370, worth over USD 1bn at the time. At the time of writing (07:59 UTC), it's worth more than USD 2.7bn, as BTC is trading at USD 39,629 after it briefly touched USD 42,000 yesterday.

The US government now controls the 6th richest BTC address (and the 4th richest if we exclude addresses controlled by crypto exchanges).

Meanwhile, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California recently filed a civil complaint for the forfeiture of those coins. If history is any indication, the bitcoins could be due to be sold in an auction by the US Marshals Service. That is what happened in 2014 and 2015 when the US government gained control of more than BTC 144,000 — worth USD 122m at the time and USD 5.7bn today — and sold them.

Indeed, auctioning off the bitcoins could be tempting for an incoming administration for whom the money spigot is poised to open wider as the pandemic tightens its grip on the economy.