Altcoins to watch amid US notice to sell $130M in BTC from Silk Road

The US government has issued a notice on the sale of over $130 million in BTC linked to Silk Road.
Court documents indicate this includes 2,874 BTC seized from drug trafficker Ryan Farace and 58 BTC from convicted law enforcement agent Sean Bridges.
BTC price remained near $40k, but market is watching Ethereum, Solana.

Crypto news today is dominated by the US government’s notice about its plans to sell over $3,200 Bitcoon (BTC) worth more than $130 million. Documents show that these bitcoins are part of the forfeitures related to the infamous darknet marketplace Silk Road.

While the news has had no major impact on BTC price as of writing, the market is abuzz with what the outlook for the top crypto by market cap could mean for altcoins. Elsewhere, the potential resurgence in meme coins has traders eyeing the next gem. Could Memeinator (MMTR) be one of the tokens to watch?

US government to sell BTC worth $130 million

On Thursday, January 25, the United States government filed a notice seeking to sell more than $130 million in Bitcoin (BTC) seized from two individuals connected to the Silk Road darknet.

According to court documents filed in the U.S District Court in Maryland, the government plans to sell 2,874 bitcoins seized from Ryan Farace and Sean Bridges in February 2021 and 58 bitcoins seized from Farace in May 2021.

At the time of the government’s notice, the approximate value of the first batch was $129 million, while the second carried a market value of about $3.3 million.

The BTC forfeitures followed Farace’s conviction over drug trafficking. Bridges, a former Secret Service agent, was convicted of stealing the bitcoins during a Silk Road investigation. The public have 60 days (from the notice’s initial filing date of January 10, 2024) to file a petition if anyone other than the defendants has an interest in the forfeited BTC.

In March last year, the US government announced it had sold 9,861 BTC for $215 million and would liquidate another 41,500 BTC in four batches over the course of the year.

Documents filed in court at the time showed the bitcoins in were from the 51,351 BTC authorities seized from James Zhong in November 2022. Zhong was arraigned over wire fraud charges related to Silk Road marketplace.

Altcoins to watch amid BTC price outlook: Ethereum, Solana, Memeinator

The latest BTC sale from the US government comes as crypto battles downside pressure, with GBTC outflows having decimated retail sentiment in recent weeks.

Bitcoin remains near the $40k level though, and as JPMorgan analysts said on Thursday, the Grayscale sell-off pressure may be ending. What does this mean for the broader market?

Experts opine that a potential rebound from current levels could put BTC on track for a retest of recent peak at $49k. Long term, the bullish outlook is helped by the upcoming block reward halving, with predictions that Bitcoin price could break above $100k by the end of the year or early 2024.

This has the altcoin market also bullish long term, with top altcoins likely to see fresh traction including Ethereum and Solana. While BTC could dip to new 2024 lows following this week’s dive to $38,600, ETH and SOL could seek support levels below $2k and $80 respectively. 

These levels or lower could provide great buying opportunities.

A look at Memeinator (MMTR)

Solana’s 2023 surge was helped by a spike in meme coin activity, with the likes of Bonk skyrocketing to reignite a meme coin resurgence. BONK price has dropped significantly as SOL struggled. 

This means the market may be on the hunt for a new meme coin gem.

With fresh momentum building up amid broader market interest in its presale, the Memeinator (MMTR) could be one of the tokens to explode in coming months. Boosting of genuine utility, laced within a play-to-earn ecosystem, Memeinator is designed to return meme culture to the industry.

As a meme coin on a mission to end the menace of poor quality copycat meme tokens, this project could be poised to challenge top dog-themed coins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. 

Memeinator’s presale has raised over $3.9 million and is currently in stage 13. The MMTR price of $0.0197 at this stage is likely to be a major bargain should the project go on to dominate the meme market as projected.

Find more about Memeinator from its whitepaper or visit the presale page.