The price of Bitcoin has it has gone down again 24 hours ago after it broke above the $100,000 level and very briefly. This decline saw Bitcoin break below the $95,000 mark again, but the latest update of the crypto market threatens to send it down. In accordance with latest reportsA US District Judge has ruled that the US Department of Justice can sell its Bitcoin assets, which were seized during the famous Silk Road case. With this development, the eventual sale of these Bitcoins raises the question of how this will affect Bitcoin’s price trajectory.
Greenlight To Liquidate Silk Road BTC
The BTC in question was seized by the US DOJ as part of its crackdown on Silk Road, the infamous darknet marketplace. These Bitcoins, which currently amount to 69,370 BTC, have been seized since 2013 and have seen their collective value grow exponentially since then. At the time of writing, DOJ’s 69,370 BTC holdings are worth more than $6.58 billion.
According to a a report from DB News that was confirmed by a US government official, the DOJ is now fully authorized to liquidate $6.58 billion worth of Bitcoin. The approval follows the resolution of a year-long ownership dispute between the US government and Battle Born Investments Company. The dispute was resolved when US Chief Judge Richard Seeborg issued a ruling denying Battle Born Investments Company’s request to postpone the sale. It is interesting that court papers regarding this case it shows that the decision was issued on December 30, 2024.
Bitcoin Price Crash Is Near?
Although government officials have provided little clarity on whether the DOJ intends to sell its Bitcoin assets in the near future, the possibility of a sale raises concerns about its potential impact on Bitcoin’s price. Considering the value of Bitcoin Holdings, a large influx could flood the market with more BTC and create further selling pressure on the price of Bitcoin, which is already struggling to hold above $100,000. A prime example of this is 40,000 BTC sold by the German country called Saxony in mid-2024, when the price of Bitcoin drops from over $70,000 to $56,000.
In the case of DOJ shares, the market impact of the eventual sale depends largely on how the liquidation is carried out. There is also the possibility of a quick sell-off by the DOJ, especially considering that the new administration will arrive at the end of January.
Speaking of the new administration, the new Trump administration promises to be crypto-positive, and be there again it talks about Bitcoin reserve. This crypto-positive approach alleviates fears of the liquidation of Silk Road’s 69,370 BTC by the DOJ. However, Bitcoin can easily resist if a selloff eventually occurs, as happened during the sale of Saxony in Germany.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $94,300.
The featured image was created with Dall.E, a chart from Tradingview.com