On October 6, 2026, the US government transferred approximately 264.863 BTC, valued at around $22.87 million, to Coinbase. This transaction follows a 2025 federal court ruling mandating the return of seized assets related to the 2016 Bitfinex hack to the exchange as in-kind restitution.
The 2016 breach involved the theft of 119,754 BTC, with federal authorities recovering 94,636 BTC in 2022 following the arrests of Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. Previously, in April 2026, the government moved 8.2 BTC, worth about $606,000, to a Coinbase Prime address.
Bitfinex intends to use the recovered funds to redeem Recovery Right Tokens issued to victims of the 2016 hack. Additionally, the exchange plans to allocate at least 80% of any remaining net proceeds to repurchase and burn its UNUS SED LEO tokens.
As of mid-2026, the US government held over 328,000 BTC. The recent transfer represents less than 1% of these total holdings. Officials characterize these movements as administrative custody-related steps rather than market liquidations.
