The German government has started selling a substantial Bitcoin (BTC) stash confiscated from the operators of a movie piracy website.
Over $195 million worth of Bitcoin was sold within the last 24 hours. The total crypto market has tanked, and traders on X have reported an early negative weekend sentiment.
Based on the latest transactions, it seems that a significant amount of Bitcoin, totaling $65 million, was deposited into exchanges.
This adds to the $130 million that was moved the day before. In spite of these sales, the German government still holds around $3.05 billion worth of Bitcoin.
Germany Begins Selling Its Bitcoin Billions
On June 19, a crypto wallet labeled “German Government (BKA)” by the crypto on-chain analytics firm Arkham began moving Bitcoin, raising community attention.
UPDATE: German Government Still Selling BTC > $195M So Far.
In the past 2 hours, the German Government sent $65M in BTC to 2 likely exchange deposits including Coinbase.
The German Government moved $600M BTC yesterday, sending $130M BTC to 4 likely exchange deposits including… pic.twitter.com/in2urlDBE0
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) June 20, 2024
Many people believe the German government is selling its Bitcoin holdings, based on wallet movements.
According to Arkham data, the crypto wallet has stored approximately 50,000 BTC since February 2024, before transferring nearly 6,500 BTC on June 19.
The money is thought to have been confiscated from Movie2k, which operates a pirated movie website.
The German Government is now on Arkham.
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) seized almost 50,000 BTC ($2.12B) from the operators of https://t.co/ck07DiJUAf, a film piracy website that was active in 2013.
The BKA received the Bitcoin in mid-January after a ‘voluntary… pic.twitter.com/0kC5tOPq6e
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) January 31, 2024
On June 19, the German government-linked wallet executed four transactions, including one outflow of 6,500 BTC worth approximately $425 million to the wallet address “bc1q0unygz3ddt8x0v33s6ztxkrnw0s0tl7zk4yxwd” and another of 2,500 BTC worth $154 million to its own address.
The German government-labeled wallet currently holds 43,359 BTC, valued at $2.83 billion. Although not all of the transferred funds were liquidated, plenty of crypto personalities expressed their thoughts on the potential consequences of selling such a substantial amount of BTC.
Bitcoin Market Tanks As The Weekend Draws In
According to one crypto trader, the recent increase in short positions and the decline in the BTC market may be attributed to the German government’s selling spree.
The German government sent some coins to Kraken & Bitstamp 1-2 hours ago.
Explains the shorts coming in and small dip we saw on #Bitcoin earlier. https://t.co/qizbuWs5wd pic.twitter.com/wgweiINjOR
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) June 19, 2024
As of this writing, BTC is worth $64,279.15. This is down 0.5% from an hour ago and 2.3% from yesterday. The value of one BTC is 4.0% less than it was seven days ago.
Ethereum (ETH), the second largest crypto, is worth $3,474.59 today, down 1.1% from an hour ago and 3.7% from yesterday. Today’s value is 1.2% less than seven days ago.
The total crypto market cap has dropped by 1.39% in the last 24 hours and by 103.64% in the past year.
In light of the German government’s sell-off, it is interesting to note that companies such as MicroStrategy are displaying a positive outlook. MicroStrategy, a software firm, recently invested $786 million in BTC, further expanding its already significant holdings. This strategic move came after the successful raising of $800 million through convertible senior notes.
Governments Make Profits From Seized BTC
Governments around the world frequently seize Bitcoin and other digital assets from criminals, and they arrange periodic auctions to sell their confiscated crypto holdings.
The US government has already sold a considerable portion of the Bitcoin confiscated from the notorious dark web marketplace, the Silk Road.
Tim Draper, an American businessman and Bitcoin advocate, purchased Silk Road BTC in 2014 in an auction hosted by the United States Marshals.
“Bitcoin frees people from trying to operate in a modern market economy with weak currencies. With the help of Vaurum and this newly purchased bitcoin, we expect to be able to create new services that can provide liquidity and confidence to markets that have been hamstrung by weak currencies.”
The winning price paid for the Bitcoins auctioned off in 9 blocks of 3,000, and one block of the remaining 2,656.51306529 is also unknown. However, the coins are valued at about $19 million.
