Bitcoinβs market price stabilized as Germanyβs government reduced its BTC holdings from over 50,000 coins to under 23,000 tokens.
According to on-chain insight provider Arkham Intelligence, Germanyβs 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 βunlabeledβ, likely an OTC desk, was sent 400 BTC or around $24 million in crypto. Despite Germanyβs move to liquidate BTC on Monday and last week, the assetβs market price remained stable above $57,000 at press time.
Germany’s BTC Liquidation Strategy
Last week, German authorities started sending BTC to exchanges and trading venues after seizing approximately 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.
Interestingly, the reverse has also happened, with platforms like Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken returning millions in BTC to German state-controlled wallets. So far, exchanges have sent over $300 million in BTC back to Germany. The leading theory behind these returns suggests platforms could not liquidate the crypto within agreed price ranges.
Current BTC Holdings
Following the latest transfer on Tuesday, Arkham noted that Germany still holds around 22,847 BTC worth over $1.3 billion. This indicates that while a significant portion has been liquidated, Germany continues to maintain a substantial reserve of Bitcoin.
TODAY: 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…
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