On July 9, a bitcoin wallet associated with Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) transferred 6306.9 BTC ($362.12 million) to trading platforms.
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… pic.twitter.com/6SmhMDElNZ
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) July 9, 2024
The recipients of the cryptocurrency included Kraken, market maker Cumberland, presumably the OTC service B2C2 Group, and an unidentified address.
In the past 24 hours, authorities have returned 5366 BTC from exchanges, including Kraken, Bitstamp, and Coinbase.
The BKA wallet holds 22,847 BTC valued at approximately $1.32 billion.
Initially, the address contained 50,000 BTC, seized by law enforcement in January from administrators of the pirate movie site Movie2k. On July 19, authorities began moving assets to exchanges in small amounts. However, in recent days, the intensity of transfers has increased, exceeding 16,000 BTC, noted economist and trader Alex Krüger.
16,038 BTC ($910M at the time) moved price by -3.5% ($2,000). The market could absorb the rest in one scoop.
Just as the market can absorb Mt. Gox flows.
These will eventually run out.
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) July 8, 2024
According to his assessment, the sale of this amount of cryptocurrency led to a “slight” price drop—approximately $2,000 or 3.5%. The expert believes that the market can absorb the remaining bitcoins from the German government, as well as the flow of coins from the Mt. Gox distribution, without significant consequences. Krüger’s calculations suggest these sales could depress prices by a maximum of 10.5%.
“Eventually, they will run out,” concluded the trader.
On July 5, bitcoin fell below $54,000. However, the next day, the asset recovered above $56,000. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading around $57,200, having decreased by 8% over the week.
Experts from 10x Research have suggested a continued correction of bitcoin to $50,000. Technical analyst and head of Factor LLC, Peter Brandt, has speculated a drop to $44,000.