Just over the weekend, Donald Trump promised the Bitcoin community not to sell BTC if he were elected. Now the US government is attracting attention with a billion-dollar transaction.

According to data of the blockchain analytics service Arkham has the American government 29,799 BTC worth $2 billion sent to a new address.

About an hour after this transaction, transactions took place again to two different addresses. The first address received 10,000 BTC worth $669.35 million, while the second address received 19,800 BTC worth $1.33 billion.

On a wallet, which Arkham attributes to the U.S. government, there are still 203,000 BTC worth about $13.59 billion at the time of writing.

Whether the transaction is related to Coinbase is unclear so far. An agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Marshals Service, has identified Coinbase Prime selected for "custody and advanced trading services" of so-called "Class 1" assets.

The billion-dollar transaction takes place just two days after a speech by presidential candidate Donald Trump. The Republican promised on stage at the largest Bitcoin conference not to sell BTC if he took over the White House.

The sudden Bitcoin move by the U.S. government caused turmoil in the Bitcoin community. Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss sees a political motivation in this:

On Saturday, @realDonaldTrump pledged to never sell any of the US government's bitcoin. Two days later, the Biden-Harris Administration moves $2 billion of Silk Road bitcoin. Great look and great way to reset with our industry. 🤡
— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) July 29, 2024

Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff thinks Trump's announcement has forced the current Democratic administration to act. The Biden administration would sell every Satoshi before Trump becomes president.

If #Trump really intended to use seized #Bitcoin to start a U.S. "strategic" reserve, he'd have kept his intention a secret until he was actually in office. Now that the #Biden administration is wise to his plan, they'll make sure to sell every Satoshi before Trump takes office.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 29, 2024

In the wake of the uncertainty, Bitcoin fell overnight from nearly $70,000 to now $66,500. The entire crypto market is currently looking red.

At 57%, Trump's chances of electoral victory look good at the time of writing. Current vice president and possible Democratic opponent Kamala Harris is coming off a strong lead, according to the crypto betting market Polymarket at 39%.