German Government Sells $195 Million in Bitcoin

Following a move to transfer over $600 million in Bitcoin on June 19th, the German government has sold $195 million worth within the past 24 hours.

The German government has sold $195 million in Bitcoin

According to data compiled by on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, wallets believed to be owned by the German government liquidated assets over the past 24 hours, contributing to a challenging trading day for the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Earlier on June 19th, the German government unexpectedly moved approximately 9,000 BTC to a new wallet address. Within 48 hours following this move, $195 million worth of BTC was transferred to cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken, likely for liquidation purposes.

Arkham reports that Berlin's wallet currently holds 47,179 BTC, valued at over $3 billion at the time of writing. A significant portion of these funds came from the crackdown on the Movie2k piracy website in January 2024.

Bitcoin prices over the past 24 hours have fluctuated between $64,000 and $66,500, initially rising on news of MicroStrategy announcing a $786 million BTC purchase yesterday evening, then falling due to the German government's BTC deposits on exchanges.

1-hour chart of BTC/USDT pair on Binance at 09:35 AM on June 21, 2024

Germany ranks as the fourth-largest holder of Bitcoin globally, following the United States, China, and the United Kingdom. Among these nations, only the United States has previously taken steps to sell Bitcoin, which has caused concern within the cryptocurrency community earlier this year.

Statistics on Bitcoin holdings by governments. Source: Bitcointreasuries (21/06/2024)

Some members of the crypto community speculate that Germany's current Bitcoin sales are aimed at bolstering defense budgets amid potential threats arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which remains at an impasse two years after the onset of war.