Bitcoin’s market price stabilized as Germany’s government shredded its BTC holdings from over 50,000 coins to under 23,000 tokens.
According to on-chain insight provider Arkham Intelligence, Germany’s government transferred 6,306.9 Bitcoin (BTC) valued at over $362 million to several entities, including centralized exchange Kraken, on Tuesday. Kraken received 800 BTC worth $45.9 million, while market makers B2C2 Group and Cumberland DRW were sent $287.1 million and $6.2 million in Bitcoin, respectively.
A fourth address marked as “unlabeled”, likely an OTC desk, was sent 400 BTC or around $24 million in crypto. When Germany moved to liquidate BTC on Monday and last week, the asset’s market price usually declined.
However, BTC was unfazed by the selling pressure this time and maintained its level above $57,000 at press time.
Germany’s Bitcoin trove down by over half
German authorities started sending BTC to exchanges and trading venues last week after seizing some 50,000 tokens from the illegal film site Movie2k in January. The largest single-day transfers occurred on Monday, when Germany moved 16,000 Bitcoin, or $866 million, to addresses identified as exchanges and other institutional counterparties.
The reverse has also happened, as platforms like Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken have returned millions in BTC to German state-controlled wallets. So far, the exchanges have sent over $300 million in BTC back to Germany. The leading theory behind the return suggests platforms could not liquidate the crypto within agreed price ranges.
Following the latest transfer on Tuesday, Arkham noted that Germany still holds around 22,847 BTC worth over $1.3 billion.
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 9, 2024TODAY: German Government selling up to 6306.9 BTC ($362.12M)
In the past 3 hours, the German Government has sent 6306.9 BTC ($362.12M) to Kraken, Cumberland, 139Po (likely institutional deposit/OTC service) and address bc1qu.
Of this, 3206.9 BTC ($184.58M) has been sent within… pic.twitter.com/6SmhMDElNZ