As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in market trends and geopolitical developments, I find the recent actions of the German government concerning. The news of their biggest Bitcoin sale yet, totaling over $900 million worth of BTC, has cast a shadow over the market and fueled fears of a potential selloff.


On Monday, the German government prepared for its largest sale of Bitcoin to date, transferring approximately $900 million in value to cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to Arkham Intelligence’s on-chain analysis, approximately 16,000 Bitcoins were withdrawn from the exchange’s wallet on July 8th, reducing the total amount held to around 23,787.7 Bitcoin ($1.35 billion).

Germany’s Biggest Bitcoin Sale

Arkham first flagged signs of a continued selloff at 8:32 am ET on Monday.

The government transferred approximately 2738.7 Bitcoin (equivalent to around $155.3 million) to entities believed to be exchanges and market makers, such as Kraken, Cumberland, an anonymous address, and one possibly linked to a institutional or over-the-counter trading platform. Cumberland and the unnamed address received Bitcoin from the government for the first time.

As a researcher, I’ve noticed that within two hours of the initial transaction, Arkham reported that Germany had transferred an additional 8100 BTC (equivalent to approximately $463.2 million) to various cryptocurrency exchanges such as Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitstamp. Among these recipients, a significant sum of $200 million was allocated to Flow Traders – a well-known proprietary trading firm and market maker in the digital asset sector.

As a researcher examining this situation, I’d put it like this: Following that tweet, my findings indicate the government transferred an extra 5200 Bitcoin (equivalent to $297.3 million at the time) to Coinbase, Bitstamp, and their OTC address.

“This is their most significant day yet, with a total of over 16,000 Bitcoin amassed – that’s nearly half of the initially confiscated Bitcoin from Movie2k,” Arkham noted.

In January of this year, German law enforcement managed to seize a substantial amount of Bitcoin, approximately 50,000 BTC, from Movie2k, a notorious movie piracy website. This seizure marks a significant achievement for the German authorities in their fight against online piracy and cybercrime. However, unlike their U.S. counterparts who have seized even larger sums of Bitcoin linked to criminal organizations, German authorities are choosing to convert these coins into fiat currency at an accelerated pace. This decision has left many 2024 crypto enthusiasts displeased, as they were anticipating a potential surge in the value of confiscated Bitcoins over time.

The Dreaded Bitcoin Selloff

Last week, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron and a crypto billionaire, proposed buying the remaining Bitcoins owned by Germany to reduce sell pressure in the market. However, this suggestion was met with criticism from a German parliament member. Instead of selling all their Bitcoins, the parliament member suggested that the government should keep them as part of a diverse financial portfolio.

Concerns over the quick disposal of Bitcoin by the German government, along with apprehensions about Mt. Gox’s Bitcoin distributions, have led to a significant market adjustment this month, causing the price of Bitcoin to drop to its cheapest level since February.

Despite bouncing back above $56,000, Bitcoin is expected to exhibit muted growth based on QCP Capital’s prediction, with impending bankruptcy payments potentially dampening its momentum.

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2024-07-08 20:01