U.S. government sold over 9k BTC for $215.7M on March 14

The United States government said it sold 9,861.17 Bitcoin on March 14 for $215.7 million, according to a March 31 court filing.

According to the court document, the sold BTC was part of the 51,351 seized from James Zhong. Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud after the government arrested him for unlawfully obtaining digital assets from the dark net marketplace Silk Road through hacking.

In 2022, the government sought the forfeiture of the seized BTC from Zhong.

The U.S. authorities said it paid $215,738 as transaction fees while it has net proceeds of $215.52 million.

Meanwhile, the government added that it plans to liquidate the over 40,000 Bitcoin balance in four batches during this calendar year. However, it would not make further sales until Zhong’s sentencing date.

On March 8, the U.S. government moved 49,000 Bitcoin — sending 9,861 BTC to Coinbase and the rest to two new addresses. At the time, crypto community members feared that the actions would increase the selling pressure on BTC.

However, BTC’s price has gone from strength to strength in March, rising to over $29,000 on March 29. In the last 30 days, BTC has gained more than 22%.