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The German government sold 49,858 Bitcoins between June and July 2024. It was sold at an average price of $57,900, totaling $2.89 billion. The move cost Germany a $2.35 billion profit as Bitcoin later surged above $104,000. the sell-off focusd solely on fast liquidity, rather than long-term financial gain or price impact control.
The Bitcoins were part of a stash seized from Movie2k, a pirated film streaming website. The wallet labeled “German Government (BKA)” had initially sparked speculation when it transferred 6,500 BTC. The BTC were worth $425 million on June 19, 2024.
The blockchain firm, Arkham, reported that if the government had held onto its BTC, the holdings would now be worth over $5.24 billion. Bitcoin’s price rebounded strongly in mid-July 2024, just one day after the German-labeled wallet emptied. BTC soon recovered past the $60,000 psychological mark and eventually climb beyond $104,700.
Arkham’s CEO, Miguel Morel, expressed surprise at the government’s liquidation tactics. Morel said, “The last thing I would have expected is that they would just go to five different exchanges and start market selling.” He suggested.
The market reacted negatively during the sell-off phase, with many blaming the abrupt liquidation for adding selling pressure. Tron’s Justin Sun even offered to buy the BTC stash directly to minimize market impact, but no deal was made. After the wallet was drained, investor sentiment recovered.
Bitcoin price has reached $107K as of May 21, breaching a challenging resistance at $105K. The world’s largest crypto has also shown steady gains of 1.32% over the last 24 hours. Analysts expect the positive momentum to continue as institutional adoption further increases.
BTC price chart as of 2.50 PM on May 21 shows gains of 0.97%:
It is important to remember that the crypto market is known for its volatility. So, it remains to be seen if German government regrets its decision in the long run, or will it be a lesson for the rest of the world’s governments.
Also Read:Crypto Prices Today: Bitcoin Price Hits $107,560, ETH Nears $2,560, Cardano Jumps 1.95%
