The German government is intensifying its divestment of Bitcoin seized from a movie piracy website, adding selling pressure to an already jittery market.
According to Arkham Intelligence data, the government transferred 900 BTC, valued at over $54 million, in three transactions on June 25. Of these, 200 BTC were moved to the Coinbase exchange, another 200 BTC to the Kraken exchange, and the remaining amount to an unmarked wallet, “139Po.”
This substantial move is part of German authorities’ recent trend of large-scale Bitcoin transactions. Last week, approximately $195 million in Bitcoin was transferred to major exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp.
Despite these transactions, the German government still holds 46,359 BTC, estimated to be worth over $2 billion, according to Arkham Intelligence. The substantial BTC stash was acquired by seizing nearly 50,000 BTC from the piracy site Movie2k.to earlier this year.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, Germany is one of the top five countries with a substantial Bitcoin balance, behind the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.
Bitcoin price struggling
The ongoing liquidation by the German government adds further volatility to the crypto market, with analysts closely monitoring these movements and their potential impact on Bitcoin’s price.
During the past day, BTC’s price fell to $58,500 for the first time since early May after bankrupt Mt. Gox revealed that it would begin Bitcoin repayments for its creditors. According to CryptoSlate’s data, the top digital asset has slightly recovered to $61,300 as of press time, recovering almost 5% from the local bottom.
Some market experts argued that this announcement spooked the market, fuelling substantial selling pressure on crypto trading platforms. Others believe that the current dip was fear-driven.
JAN3 CEO and Bitcoin bull Samson Mow said:
“Right now, this Bitcoin dip is purely sentiment and fear driven, not from selling of large holdings. Even when Gox coins come to market, if there are sales, they will likely be via OTC and will have minimal impact on price.”
