In a continued effort to liquidate its substantial Bitcoin holdings, the German government has once more engaged in significant transactions involving BTC, in line with data from blockchain analytics platforms Arkham Intel. This morning, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) executed nine transactions involving a complete of roughly 2,786 BTC.
German Gov’t Continues Its Bitcoin Sell-Off
Arkham Intel’s data shows that 4 of them are internal transfers while five transactions were direct transfers to crypto exchanges and market makers, suggesting an intent to sell. The five potential sales amount to 1,095.339 BTC price roughly $67 million. Specifically, the BKA made two 125 BTC transfers, each price roughly $7.7 million, to well-known crypt exchanges Bitstamp and Kraken.
A further transaction involved a minute test transfer of 0.001 BTC to Flow Traders, a number one market maker. This small transaction was soon followed by a much larger transfer of 345.338 BTC to the identical entity, strongly suggesting preparation for a considerable sell order.
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One other noteworthy transfer of 500 BTC was directed to an enigmatic address tagged as “139Po.” This address has seen previous activity linked to the German government but stays shrouded in mystery, purported to be one other sale point.
Bitcoin holdings Germany | Source: Arkham
These transactions form a part of a broader trend observed since last week. Only a day prior, on June 25, the federal government had disposed of 400 Bitcoin price $24 million on Kraken and Coinbase, in addition to 500 BTC to handle “139Po.”
That is along with significant movements earlier last week: $130 million price of BTC were transferred to exchanges on June 19 and $65 million on June 20. Counterbalancing these outflows, the federal government received $20.1 million back from Kraken and $5.5 million from wallets related to Robinhood, Bitstamp, and Coinbase.
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Currently, the German government’s holdings amount to 45,264 BTC, valued at around $2.8 billion. This makes Germany one among the highest nation-state holders of Bitcoin, trailing only behind america, China, and the UK, which hold 213,246 BTC, 190,000 BTC, and 61,000 BTC respectively, in line with data from Bitcoin Treasuries.
BTC Price Hangs Above Critical Level
The pattern of large-scale disposals by the German government has contributed to fluctuations in Bitcoin’s market price, which has experienced a decline of roughly 6% because the onset of those transactions. Bitcoin’s value briefly fell below the $60,000 threshold following the announcement from Mt. Gox about disbursing roughly $9 billion price of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Money starting in July.
Market analysts and investors are also keenly observing these governmental actions because the sell-off seems to proceed at a slow pace. This strategic liquidation by the German government arrives at a pivotal juncture for market sentiment, with Bitcoin prices teetering just above critical support levels. Should the every day trading price close below the $60,000 threshold, it could potentially trigger a more pronounced downturn in Bitcoin’s price, exacerbating market volatility and uncertainty.
At press time, BTC traded at $61,451.
BTC price, 1-day chart | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com