Did Trump Break His Promise?

The US government also transferred some ETH to the exchange.

According to data coming from Arkham Intelligence, wallets linked to the United States government have moved almost $300 million in bitcoin and ether to Coinbase Prime, reigniting concerns that Washington could be preparing to sell part of its massive BTC stash despite Trump’s previous pledge.

The report noted that the moved bitcoin originated from assets seized in cases connected to convicted dark-web dealer Ryan Farace and the defunct BTC-e exchange. The ETH was linked to Brian Krewson, who was implicated in a crypto custody and money-laundering scheme.

Will Trump Break His Promise?

The transfers in question were for 3,940 BTC (valued at around $244 million at the time) and 30,014 ETH (worth approximately $53 million), making the total $297 million. Although the transfers do not necessarily constitute sales, moving large sums to Coinbase Prime often fuels speculation because the platform offers institutional trading and execution services.

Nevertheless, Coinbase’s arm also provides custody, financing, and other infrastructure, meaning that the transfer alone does not confirm whether the US government has indeed liquidated the crypto stash.

THE US GOVERNMENT JUST DEPOSITED $280M OF CRYPTO TO COINBASE PRIME

The US Government just deposited a total of $288.33M of BTC and ETH to Coinbase Prime. This includes confiscations from Brian Krewson, BTC-e, and Ryan Farace.

Will they be selling it all? pic.twitter.com/M5srRI3KJU

— Arkham (@arkham) July 13, 2026

If they had, though, the ramifications could be quite significant. Recall that US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which promised that no government-owned BTC, including seized funds, would be sold if they are deposited into it.

No Necessary Violation

The wording is what matters the most here. The executive order does not necessarily prohibit every government offloading of seized BTC. Instead, its no-sale requirement specifically applies to the funds that have been transferred into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

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It also provides exceptions allowing government-controlled cryptocurrencies to be returned to verified victims, used for law-enforcement purposes, shared with state or local authorities, sold under a court order, or released to satisfy existing statutory obligations.

As such, even if the US government had moved and sold $297 million in bitcoin and ether, it wouldn’t necessarily mean there was a violation of the rules. The key unanswered questions as of press time are whether the transferred funds had formally entered the reserve and whether they remain still subject to restitution, forfeiture, or other legal requirements.