Earlier today, a U.S. government-linked wallet deposited 3.23 Ether (ETH) to Coinbase Prime, sparking speculations among some traders that it may be a part of a larger move that is yet to come. However, others dismissed it as a routine move.
U.S. government makes small ETH deposit to Coinbase Prime
The government wallet linked with seized funds transferred a small amount of ETH, specifically 3.23 ETH (worth $7,630 at prevailing market prices), to Coinbase Prime earlier today. The transfer, despite its small size, has drawn some attention on X.
Data from Arkham Intelligence shows that the wallet labeled “Glenn Oliviio Seized Funds” sent the aforementioned quantity of ETH to Coinbase Prime.
Typically, Coinbase Prime is used by institutional investors for large buy or sell orders. As a result, the wallet’s transfer stands out.
Some suggest that the transfer is likely a part of routine asset management or liquidation processes. That said, there are several reasons why government-linked wallet addresses are closely tracked by blockchain investigators.
Past data shows that larger transfers of crypto assets to exchanges have typically preceded major liquidation events. Such moves also tend to sometimes contribute to short-term volatility in the underlying asset.
While the scale of this particular transfer indicates that it is highly unlikely to have any significant impact on ETH’s price, there is a minor chance that it could be a small test transaction ahead of a larger selling event.
A look at past exchange deposits
There are several examples of government wallet-induced crypto market panic. For instance, in January 2025, the U.S. government had gotten the approval to sell Bitcoin worth $6.5 billion seized from the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
Similarly, in May 2025, the U.S. Marshals Service sold 57.55 BTC, worth around $6.4 million at the time. In both cases, while there was initial panic in the market, neither of the moves succeeded in creating any meaningful price drawdown.
One exception was the German’s government’s decision to sell around 50,000 BTC it had seized from the Movie2K piracy case. At the time, the total value of the seized BTC was close to $3 billion.
The government sold almost the entire stash in June-July 2024, selling as much as 16,000 BTC in a single day. As a result, BTC saw an immediate crash, dropping from around $65,000 to $55,000 within days, recording a decline of approximately 15 percent.