German authorities sold 10,567 BTC valued at $600 million today, contributing significantly to an 18% decline in Bitcoin’s price over the past month, along with sell-offs from Mt. Gox and Genesis Trading.
As of 1:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 11, the wallets associated with German authorities still hold 4,925 BTC, currently worth $285 million. This represents a reduction of more than 90% from the initial holdings of 50,000 BTC, valued at nearly $3 billion, when the liquidation began three weeks ago. Since Germany initiated their Bitcoin sell-off, BTC has corrected approximately 18%.
Blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence indicates that German authorities transferred the 10,567 BTC to exchanges such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, Kraken, and other service providers.
In June, crypto.news reported that the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) seized approximately 50,000 BTC from the operators of the piracy movie website Movie2k.to back in 2013. The BKA took possession of the Bitcoin in mid-January following a “voluntary transfer” from the suspects.
Recently, Tron founder Justin Sun suggested purchasing Germany’s Bitcoin holdings to mitigate market impact.
Concerns Over Sell-Off
Concerns Mount Over Continued BTC Sell-Off
While Germany approaches the end of its BTC sell-off, other entities still face the need to liquidate their holdings. Mt. Gox, once a major Bitcoin exchange until its collapse in 2014, has begun repaying creditors after a lengthy legal process. This repayment involves a substantial amount of BTC, Bitcoin Cash, and Japanese yen, totaling around $9 billion.
Analysts are wary of the impact of this sudden influx of BTC into the market, fearing it could exert significant downward pressure on prices. Many creditors may be inclined to sell their holdings to capitalize on current market values.
In addition, Genesis Trading has been actively offloading BTC over the past month, further contributing to the selling pressure in the market.
The combined activities of Mt. Gox and Genesis Trading, along with the German sell-off, have exacerbated Bitcoin’s recent price decline, contributing to an 18% drop over the past month.
