- The German government moved over $900 million worth of Bitcoin to crypto exchanges and market makers on Monday within just 8 hours, ramping up its Bitcoin liquidation efforts.
- The transfers included $200 million worth of Bitcoin sent to Flow Traders, along with further deposits to Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken.
- The price of Bitcoin plunged by nearly 3% in reaction to these large transfers, dropping from above $57,000 to around $55,300.
The German government has drastically increased the amount of seized Bitcoin that it is moving to exchanges and market makers, with more than $900 million worth transferred already on Monday in a span of just 8 hours, according to on-chain data tracked by Arkham Intelligence. Germany has made a flurry of transfers in recent hours since Decrypt reported that the government had sent $28 million worth of Bitcoin to Coinbase and Bitstamp.
Latest Transfers
The latest transfers include $200 million worth of Bitcoin sent to Flow Traders, along with further deposits to Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken. Transferring funds to exchanges and market makers does not necessarily suggest that it’s already been sold, but does point to likely interest in liquidating the assets.
Market Reaction
The markets appeared to react quickly to the latest batch of transfers, with the price of Bitcoin plunging by nearly 3% over the last hour alone to $55,300, according to data from CoinGecko. Bitcoin had traded above $57,000 earlier Monday.
Background
Germany’s Bitcoin holdings primarily come from funds seized from the creators of a long-shuttered movie piracy website called Movie2k.to. The government confiscated 50,000 BTC from the proprietors in January.
Conclusion
The latest moves leave Germany’s wallets with just $1.34 billion worth of Bitcoin, down from a recent peak of $3.5 billion one month ago. Germany has made numerous smaller transfers in recent weeks, but this is the biggest single-day series of transfers seen thus far.
