hovers around $96,000 as government moves $1.9 billion worth of coins By Investing.com

Investing.com – Bitcoin fell slightly on Tuesday, staying below record highs, as sentiment was hit by reports that the U.S. government had mobilized some of its coins seized from the Silk Road market.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell into a trading range below $100,000 in recent weeks after largely failing to break above the coveted mark during a rally through November. But it still remained close to the recent record high of over $99,000.

fell 0.8% to $95,928.8 at 12:18 a.m. ET (05:18 GMT).

In anticipation of friendlier policies under President-elect Donald Trump, most major altcoins rallied against Bitcoin. has been a big beneficiary of this trend, hitting an over six-year high on speculation that the SEC will drop its long-running lawsuit against the issuer.

Bitcoin spooks as government moves $1.9 billion worth of Silk Road tokens

Bitcoin saw some losses after data from Arkham Intelligence showed that the U.S. government transferred nearly 20,000 coins worth about $1.9 billion to Coinbase (NASDAQ:). Such a move usually heralds a sell-off.

The coins were confiscated from the now-defunct online black market Silk Road and represent about 10% of the government’s total Bitcoin supply, according to Arkham.

Mobilizing tokens on an exchange typically heralds a sale event as the government has sold tokens through similar channels in the past.

However, this move does not necessarily mean a sale, as Coinbase has a contract with the Justice Department’s US Marshals Service to custody and trade its digital assets.

Trump’s Bitcoin Reserve Seems Unlikely – TD

TD analysts downplayed the possibility of a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve under Donald Trump, saying the president-elect’s “ironclad” view that the dollar must remain the world’s reserve currency would scuttle any attempts to hedge against the greenback.

Bitcoin’s recent rally was fueled by optimism over Trump’s election victory as he promised to introduce crypto-friendly policies and potentially establish a Bitcoin reserve.

But while Trump’s cabinet all has crypto-friendly views, doubts have emerged about the possibility of a reserve. Creating a reserve would also require tax money to purchase more Bitcoin, which seems likely given a Republican-led Congress that is seeking to cut government spending.

Crypto Price Today: Altcoins Extend Rally, XRP Shines

Broader crypto prices largely recovered beyond Bitcoin’s weakness. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency fell 1.1% to $3,653.11.

continued to rise after its recent rally made it the third-largest crypto in the world. The altcoin rose 11.3% to $2.7395, hitting an over six-year high on speculation that a leadership change at the SEC will lead to the agency dropping its long-running lawsuit against Ripple.

fell 0.3% while rising 12%. increased by almost 18%.

Meme tokens lagged behind, losing 3.8%.