of German According to blockchain analytics firm Arcam, the government transferred millions of bitcoins it seized to major bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Coinbase.
The transfer was made from a wallet linked to the German Federal Criminal Office (BKA), which in 2013 seized around 50,000 bitcoins from a movie piracy website.
On Tuesday, the BKA wallet moved $24 million worth of bitcoin in two transactions to Kraken and Coinbase, while another $30 million worth of bitcoin was sent to an unknown wallet not affiliated with the exchanges.
According to Arkham data, These transfers follow $195 million worth of Bitcoin transferred to the exchange on June 19 and 20. Over $425 million has been moved in the past week.
The German government still holds most of the seized bitcoins, exchange It may signal an intention to liquidate some of its assets.
The government’s sale of bitcoin holds brings potential downward pressure on prices, but the moves so far represent a relatively small portion of bitcoin’s daily trading volume.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Tuesday following the news. The German government still holds more than 46,000 Bitcoin, worth roughly $3 billion, in its Bitcoin wallet.
For German police, the value of bitcoins seized from illegal activities has increased dramatically – selling even a small portion of them would result in a windfall – but concerns remain about the potential impact on the bitcoin market as a whole.
