Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have seen sharp declines so far this month, but global stock markets are returning to all-time highs after shrugging off fears about U.S. economic growth. Bitcoin fell about 10 percent in August, trailing the nearly 1 percent gain in the MSCI Inc. global index and gold's rise to all-time highs. The Bloomberg Global Bond Index rose nearly 2 percent over the same period. Analysts point to the risk of the US government dealing with confiscated bitcoins whose addresses currently hold around $12 billion worth of cryptocurrencies as one of the challenges facing digital assets. According to an analysis by Arkham Intelligence, on-chain data shows that the US last week transferred $600 million of confiscated bitcoins to a wallet on an exchange operated by Coinbase Global Inc. Khushboo Khullar, a venture capital partner at Lightning Ventures who invests in bitcoin-related companies, said the possible sale of bitcoin by the U.S. government "caused this temporary downward pressure on prices, but we don't expect the impact to last long." (Bloomberg)