- The German government has recently sold another $900 million in Bitcoin, causing the price to drop to $55,000
- Arkham Intelligence revealed that German government-labeled wallets recently moved 16,300 bitcoins to exchanges like Bitstamp, Kraken, and Coinbase
- Despite the recent sales, the German government has still holds more than 23,700 bitcoins
The German government recently sold another $900 million in Bitcoin, helping drop the price to $55,000, but it still has another $1.5 billion worth left. Arkham Intelligence revealed that Bitcoin wallets labeled as belonging to the German government moved around 16,300 bitcoins to external addresses, including crypto exchanges Bitstamp, Kraken and Coinbase. This move was followed by a drop in the price of Bitcoin, but the pain isn’t over yet, as the German government’s wallets still hold more than 23,700 bitcoins.
50,000 Movie2k.to Bitcoins Being Sold
The Bitcoin holdings originated from a criminal case linked to Movie2k.to, a defunct illegal streaming site. The operators distributed over 880,000 pirated films between 2008 and 2013, accumulating a significant Bitcoin stash. Upon its closure, German authorities confiscated nearly 50,000 BTC, marking one of the country’s largest seizures.
Since then, the German government has been systematically selling the seized bitcoins, and as of the last transfer, it has almost halved its holdings; data from Arkham Intelligence shows that it holds almost 23,788, which it will undoubtedly sell in the same manner:
The German Government sent another 5200 BTC ($297.3M) to Kraken, Bitstamp, Coinbase and 139Po right after we posted this tweet. That makes this the biggest day for them so far – over 16,000 BTC in total.
They currently hold 23,787.7 BTC ($1.35B). Less than half of the BTC… pic.twitter.com/tO7r0J0w08
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 8, 2024
This approach of converting seized digital assets into fiat currency aligns with the government’s goal of managing and liquidating criminally acquired assets, although many have questioned why it isn’t selling the coins OTC instead of through several exchanges. This method would ensure that it gets a consistent price throughout its sales and will not crash the market.
Given that it isn’t doing this, we can assume that Bitcoin’s price will remain deflated and volatile until the selling is over.
