After the German government transferred more than 10,000 bitcoin to exchanges and market makers early Monday, the country's authorities received nearly 3,000 BTC back later in the day. 

As of 4:15 p.m. EST, Germany had received 2,898 bitcoin, or about $163 million, primarily from Coinbase, Kraken and Bitstamp, according to Arkham Intelligence data.

The exchanges most likely sent the bitcoin back to Germany after they could not sell them within a targeted price range, according to The Block's Research Director Steven Zheng.

"Considering some bitcoin were sent back to the German government from Coinbase, one can assume they were unsold bitcoin as part of a sale agreement between the crypto exchange and the country," Zheng said.

BTC's price hit about $55,200 early Monday afternoon …