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BTC Price Plunges $1,000+ on Rumors That Govt Wallets Are on the Move

Tim Fries

Published: May 10, 2023 10:17 pm

Last Updated: May 11, 2023 11:00 am

In a widely disputed and now-deleted tweet posted on Monday, May 10th, a Twitter user known as “beetle” shared a rumor that US government Bitcoin wallets are on the move. The world’s largest cryptocurrency quickly responded by dropping around $1,000 in a matter of minutes before whipsawing.

BTC Whipsaws On New Rumors US Government May Be About to Sell

After a Twitter user known as “beetle” posted that there was an Arkham Intelligence alert that US Government’s BTC wallets were on the move, the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency quickly plummeted from around $28,200 to just under $27,000. The tweet was quickly disputed by other well-known regulars on Crypto Twitter including the “2D detective” ZachZBT.

Not long after, “beetle” deleted the original post and tweeted they didn’t have any confirmation for the rumor. The account was briefly set to protected afterward and the price of Bitcoin entered into recovery standing around $27,400 by the time of writing.

A similar event occurred two weeks ago on April 26th. A rumor that both Mt. Gox and US government wallets were moving Bitcoin caused the cryptocurrency to drop by more than $2,000 within a single hour. Later it was clarified that the rumor was caused by an Arkham Intelligence alert caused by a bug.

Why Is Crypto Twitter So Anxious About Government Wallets?

One of the reasons Crypto Twitter is currently anxious about movements made by US Government wallets is the recent announcement it is intending to sell over 50,000 BTC before the end of the year. The authorities already offloaded close to 10,000 of the cryptocurrency and revealed there will undertake four more sales in 2023.

While the government also stated it would be careful with the timing of the sale to minimize the impact on the market, investors already proved uneasy with the notion. Adding to the tension, Mt.Gox-affiliated wallets, holding more than 100,000 BTC also came to life on April 24th.

Additionally, a report from Monday, May 10th, revealed that Jane Street and Jump Trading—two major market makers—were winding down their involvement with the cryptocurrency market. The news sparked fears about the current state of liquidity of various digital assets.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist