The German government cannot stop selling Bitcoin (BTC).
Germany has made a series of transfers in recent hours since ZyCrypto reported that the government had sent $27 million in assets to Coinbase and Bitstamp, bringing the total BTC amount moved by the government over the last 24 hours to a five-figure amount.
The sell-offs come despite crypto-friendly German lawmaker Joana Cotar urging it to “refrain” from liquidating the remaining Bitcoin holdings. Cotar issued her statement to the German government on July 4, stating that the preeminent crypto could help the country diversify its treasury assets and promote innovation while also serving as a hedge against inflation.
Germany’s Biggest Bitcoin Sale
The German government has made waves in the crypto market today with massive transfers.
According to blockchain data platform Arkham Intelligence, the authorities have dramatically ramped up the amount of seized Bitcoin that it is sending to crypto exchanges and market makers, with at least 16,309 BTC (equivalent to over $900 million) transferred on July 8 in the space of just 8 hours.
The latest transfers include $200 million worth of Bitcoin sent to market makers Flow Traders and Cumberland DRW and additional deposits to Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken. Germany has made multiple smaller transfers in recent weeks, but this is the largest single-day string of transfers witnessed thus far. With the deposit of funds to exchanges suggesting sell-offs, the actions of the German government have wreaked havoc on the crypto market.
According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin’s price fell 3% to as low as $54,320 shortly after the blockchain transactions. Later, the foremost cryptocurrency rebounded slightly, trading at $56,129 as of press time.
Dreaded BTC Sell-Off
The latest transfers leave the wallets of the Eurozone’s biggest economy with just 23,788 BTC (worth $1.33 billion), down from a peak of almost 50,000 BTC ($3.5 billion).
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) seized 49,857 BTC from the operators of the piracy website Movie2k.to. in January this year when Bitcoin was valued at around $46K.
The pending coin stockpile suggests further price turbulence if the sell-offs continue. Last week, Tron founder Justin Sun offered to purchase BTC from the German government off-market to minimize the adverse impact on the spot price. At the moment, it remains unclear just how serious the popular crypto founder really was.