In today’s struggling cryptocurrency market, a report shared by investigating firm Arkham has garnered massive attention from investors and crypto communities worldwide. According to the Arkham report, a crypto wallet linked to the German government, labeled “German Government (BKA),” has initiated movements of Bitcoin. Arkham also added that this wallet has been holding close to 50,000 Bitcoin since February 2024.
Is the German government selling BTC holdings?
However, on June 19, 2024, the wallet made notable transactions and moved a massive 6,500 BTC worth $450 million. These funds are believed to have originated from the seizure of assets from the operator of the pirated movie website, Movie2k.
The German government sent some coins to Kraken & Bitstamp 1-2 hours ago.Explains the shorts coming in and small dip we saw on #Bitcoin earlier. https://t.co/qizbuWs5wd pic.twitter.com/wgweiINjOR
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) June 19, 2024
According to Arkham’s data, the wallet conducted four transactions for this massive transaction. One transaction involved the outflow of 6,500 BTC worth $425 million to a specific wallet address, while another involved 2,500 BTC worth $154 million being sent to its address.
Further analysis of the transactions revealed that the wallet received 6,500 BTC and later transferred 2,500 BTC to another address, “bc1q.” This secondary address then divided the received funds into four transactions of 500 BTC each. Two of these transactions were sent to cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Bitstamp, while the remaining two were transferred to undisclosed private addresses.
German government current Bitcoin holdings
As of now, the German government-associated wallet reportedly holds 43,359 BTC, valued at approximately $2.83 billion. While not all the transferred funds have been liquidated, speculation is rife within the crypto space regarding the potential impact of such a substantial sale of BTC. Some traders have posited that the recent surge in short positions and the downturn in the Bitcoin market could be attributed to the purported selling activity by the German government.
Following these massive transactions, the BTC price remained stable and is currently moving near $64,870. If we look at the performance of BTC over a longer period, in the last 7 days, it experienced a 7% price drop, whereas, in the last 30 days, the BTC price experienced a 3% downside momentum.