German Government Unloads 80% Of Bitcoin Holdings, Leaving Only $890M Behind

In recent weeks, German authorities have stepped up the sale of significant amounts of Bitcoin (BTC), resulting in increased selling pressure on the world’s largest cryptocurrency, which has fallen over 20% in the past month. 

The selling spree began last month when the German government initiated the sale of seized Bitcoin from a wallet operated by the country’s Federal Criminal Police Office, commonly known as the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). 

The BKA sold 900 BTC in June valued at around $52 million at the time, which were part of a massive haul seized from a now-defunct movie piracy website. Subsequently, the government sold an additional 3,000 BTC worth approximately $172 million, followed by another sale of 2,739 BTC, equivalent to $155 million this week.

Adding to these figures, the latest data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham reveals that the German government’s wallet sold over 5,000 BTC on Wednesday, leaving just 15,552 BTC in its stash worth around $892 million, representing a sell-off of more than 80% of their entire stash of 50,000 BTC seized. 

Despite the significant sell-off, Bitcoin has managed to maintain its price above the crucial 6-month support level of $50,000, signaling resilience in the face of the massive selling pressure witnessed in the market over the past 30 days. 

Furthermore, the recent pullback from all-time high levels has been viewed by many investors, including institutional asset managers, as a buying opportunity, contributing to the slight recovery in Bitcoin prices over the past few days. Akrham even stated in a social media post, “The German government is selling, but Blackrock is buying. 

Recent data shows that on Wednesday, the Bitcoin ETF market activity has seen a net addition of 4,862 BTC valued at $281 million, mitigating the impact of the daily sell-off by the German authorities. 

BlackRock for instance, one of the largest ETF issuer by assets under management,  increased its BTC holdings today by 2,095 BTC (worth $121.16 million), bringing its total holdings to 312,565 BTC worth $18.08 billion, playing a significant role in stabilizing and supporting the Bitcoin price. 

At the time of writing, the largest cryptocurrency on the market is trading at $57,430, almost unchanged from Tuesday’s price with a slight drop of 0.4% in the last 24 hours. Nevertheless, BTC still records a price drop of over 22% from its all-time high of $73,700 reached in mid-March. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com