The Worse May Not Be Over for Bitcoin as German Govt Resumes Selling

The past few days have been characterized by sudden price falls for the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Still, more price downtrend may be imminent as the German government recently moved 900 BTC (worth approximately $54 million) after selling 3,000 BTC some days ago.

German Government to Sell 900 BTC

The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) confiscated almost 50,000 BTC (worth over $3 billion) from the operators of a film piracy website called Movies2k.to, which was active in 2013. According to findings from the blockchain analytics platform Arkham, the accused website operators transferred the seized BTC to the German law authorities earlier this year.

Germany’s BTC stash makes it the fourth-largest BTC holder among governments globally. The first, second, and third are the United States, China, and the United Kingdom, holding 213,246 BTC, 190,000 BTC, and 61,000 BTC, respectively. Germany’s BTC portfolio represented 0.258% of the cryptocurrency’s supply ratio.

On June 19, the German-labelled Bitcoin address transported 6,500 BTC. Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of on-chain analytical firm CryptoQuant, confirmed that the BKA has sold 3,000 BTC from its seized bitcoin stash.

Current data shows that 400 BTC (worth approx. $24 million) was recently moved to centralized exchanges Kraken and Coinbase. An hour later, the remaining 500 BTC in that particular wallet was transferred to another Bitcoin wallet. Crypto users have expressed concerns that the European government may likely sell these bitcoins.

Bitcoin Trades Around $61K

Earlier this month, BTC traded above $71,000. However, this narrative has changed as the leading cryptocurrency recently dropped to as low as $58,000 within the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC traded at $61,300, representing a 0.54% increase in a 24-hour chart.

Aside from the German government sell-off concerns, another factor that has triggered the BTC price decrease is news about the impending Mt. Gox repayment process, set to commence from July beginning. Bitcoin community members speculate that the repayment may see users selling off their BTC stash, sparking another downward spiral for the digital asset’s value.