German government exhausts most of its Bitcoin supply after emailextended sales periodfs, which put cryptocurrency investors under pressure to sell. The origin of these assets can be traced back to 2013 through the income from a now-defunct movie piracy website called Movie2K. In mid-January 2024, reports emerged that the Saxony Criminal Police Office had seized 50,000 BTC from one of the site’s operators as part of criminal investigations against Movie2K.
At the time of Movie2K’s 2013 operation, these assets were worth less than $50 million combined. However, Bitcoin has since appreciated in value, with the stock rising to over $2.5 billion before the takeover in January 2024. Sales started in June 19, but were increased in July. Interestingly, on-chain data shows that sell-offs have led to a depletion of over 40,000 BTC in the past month, with less than 5,000 BTC currently remaining.
Sales in Germany may end soon
Numerous press reports and prominent voices in the cryptocurrency market have blamed the German government for the sell-offs. However, the miniature German state of Saxony is responsible for selling billions worth of Bitcoin. Nevertheless, the sell-offs have undoubtedly shocked many investors and have largely contributed to the drag on the price of Bitcoin over the past few weeks. This, in turn, has led to a chain reaction across the market, with many altcoins seeing a acute drop in value in line with Bitcoin.
According to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, the sell-off may be ending soon, which could provide the market with a much-needed break. It’s worth noting that the latest transfer involved a transfer of 2,700 BTC worth $154.56 million just two hours ago to Coinbase, Bitstamp, Kraken, 139Po (likely an institutional depository/OTC service), and a bc1qu address.
So far, they have transferred 14,178 BTC to market makers and exchanges in the last 24 hoursgiving them a total sale of over 43,000 BTC. At the time of writing, the state government controls 6,894 BTC worth $394.43 million. With most of the assets now gone, the sell-offs should have less of an impact on selling pressure going forward.
What’s next for bitcoin?
Bitcoin is currently trading at $57,195 and is up 5.73% in seven days. While 43,000 BTC is not insignificant, the market has actually been I’m doing pretty well with it so far. Bitcoin’s total market capitalization is in the trillions of dollars, so the recent sell-off is just a drop in the ocean of digital Bitcoin. This school of thought has recently been confirmed by Ki Juvenile Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant. He believes the sell-offs have caused an overreaction by crypto investors.
El Salvador, on the other hand, took advantage of the sell-off to augment its Bitcoin holdings.
🇩🇪 While Germany sells its #BitcoinEl Salvador is buying more Bitcoins every day 🇸🇻 photo:twitter.com/XKnscuxwBA
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 11, 2024
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
