German Government Continues Bitcoin Sales To Kraken and Coinbase
On-chain data reveals that the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is continuing to sell off Bitcoin (BTC) from a linked wallet. Last week, they offloaded approximately $170 million worth of BTC. This Tuesday, the BKA transferred 400 BTC, valued at around $24 million, to cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Kraken in two separate transactions.
Massive Bitcoin Sell-Off by German Authorities
Tuesday morning saw the BKA transfer 400 BTC ($24.34 million) to Coinbase and Kraken, signaling a clear intent to sell. Additionally, another 500 BTC, worth over $30 million, was moved to an unidentified wallet labeled "139Po," as reported by on-chain analytics provider Arkham Intelligence.
Arkham noted, "This is in addition to the $130 million BTC sent to exchanges on June 19th and $65 million BTC sent on June 20th, although they received $20.1 million back from Kraken and $5.5 million from wallets linked to Robinhood, Bitstamp, and Coinbase."
The BTC being sold was confiscated from the operators of the movie piracy website Movie2k, totaling nearly 50,000 BTC, worth over $2 billion at the time. The BKA received the Bitcoin in January after the suspects voluntarily transferred it to wallets controlled by German law enforcement.
Impact on Bitcoin Market
Bitcoin's price has been under pressure, trading around $61,390 at the time of writing. Over the past month, Bitcoin has dropped 10.8%, and more than 5% in the past week, according to CoinGecko data.
Following these transactions, the German government still holds 46,359 BTC, valued at approximately $2.8 billion at current market prices. This positions Germany among the largest known nation-state holders of Bitcoin, behind the United States, China, and the UK. If the German authorities continue to sell, it could significantly increase selling pressure and potentially push Bitcoin's price below the crucial $60,000 level.
Samson Mow, CEO of Bitcoin adoption firm Jan3, commented on the situation via a post on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter), stating, "There isn’t a massive ‘dump’ from Germany or Gox," and added that the Mt.Gox sale would have a "minimal impact" on Bitcoin's price.
