Galaxy Research: US Government Shifts 9,261 Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime Under Reserve Rules

9,261 bitcoin left government-linked wallets for Coinbase Prime in a two-day window that closed October 7. Galaxy Research broke down the moves as 834 BTC on October 6 and 8,428 BTC on October 7, with the full amount landing at the same custodian.

Breakdown of the flows

Galaxy noted that nearly half of the coins traced back to recoveries from the Bitfinex hack case. Additional coins came from Binance-related seizures, while 2,456 BTC arrived from wallets that had not previously shown up in public government tracking and may represent fresh law-enforcement actions.

The timing lines up with ongoing forfeiture work. The Department of Justice filed a civil complaint last October targeting roughly 127,271 BTC connected to Chen Zhi, and court records show a claim filed in that case on December 29, 2025. Those proceedings remain active, so any final movement of those coins would still require judicial sign-off.

What the order permits

Executive Order 14233, signed March 6, 2025, created the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and stated that finally forfeited BTC placed inside it shall not be sold. Section 3(d) carves out separate lanes that allow seized assets to return to verified victims, support law-enforcement operations, or move under court order without violating the no-sale rule.

Coinbase Prime has held the U.S. Marshals Service contract for Class 1 digital-asset custody and trading since July 2024. A deposit to that venue can therefore reflect ordinary storage or preparation for one of the permitted actions listed above rather than an immediate market exit.

Open questions on October 8

Neither the Department of Justice nor the U.S. Marshals Service has issued a statement detailing the purpose of the October 6-7 transfers. On-chain records show only the movement to the custodian, and government-linked addresses still hold around 319,086 BTC overall, including the main Bitfinex-recovery wallet that has not moved.

Community channels on X are running the numbers on possible next steps while waiting for an official update. The order itself keeps the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve insulated from direct sales, so any future release would have to follow one of the narrow exceptions already spelled out in the text.

Custody context

The shift keeps the coins inside a regulated platform already approved for large-scale federal work. That structure matches the budget-neutral acquisition mandate given to Treasury and Commerce under the same executive order, which focuses on holding rather than liquidating forfeited holdings.

Until the agencies publish a reason or court filings appear, the transfer stays classified as a custody move. Observers tracking the wallets will continue to watch for any follow-on activity that could clarify the destination.