German Authorities Continue Bitcoin Transfers to Exchanges

On July 8, a bitcoin wallet associated with Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) transferred 500 BTC (~$27.9 million) to centralized exchanges.

The #German government transferred 1,000 $BTC($55.8M) out again 15 minutes ago, of which 500 $BTC($27.9M) was deposited to #Coinbase and #Bitstamp.

The #German government currently holds 38,826 $BTC($2.17B).https://t.co/h2JlBVFPsL pic.twitter.com/NS5pkMixrj

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 8, 2024

The German authorities transferred 250 BTC each to the platforms Coinbase and Bitstamp. Transactions of 700 BTC and 500 BTC were sent to unidentified Arkham addresses.

The government-controlled wallet retains 38,826 BTC valued at $2.23 billion. Initially, it held 50,000 BTC, seized by law enforcement in January from administrators of the pirate movie site Movie2k.

July 8, 2024 | 18:39Update:

German authorities continued to transfer funds.

Following further transactions, the bitcoin price tested levels below $55,000. At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is trading above $56,000.

On June 19, authorities began moving assets, some of which had already reached exchanges. Arkham experts identified recipients of the transactions, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp, as well as market maker Flow Traders.

On July 4, independent Bundestag member Joana Cotar criticized the government for selling bitcoins. The legislator recalled ongoing discussions in the United States about interpreting digital gold as a strategic reserve currency.

Bloomberg identified the German authorities’ sale of the leading cryptocurrency as one of the reasons for the sharp price drop below the psychological support of $60,000.