German authorities sold 10,567 bitcoins worth $600 million today, contributing significantly to the 18% drop in bitcoin price over the past month, along with sell-offs from Mt. Gox and Genesis Trading.
As of 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 11, wallets linked to German authorities held 4,925 BTC remaining, currently worth $285 million. This represents a more than 90% drop in BTC held, down from 50,000 BTC worth nearly $3 billion when they began selling assets three weeks ago. BTC has corrected by about 18% since Germany began liquidating Bitcoin.
German authorities’ Bitcoin wallets moved 10,567 bitcoins worth over $600 million today to exchanges like Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken, as well as other service providers, according to Blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence.
Earlier in June, crypto.news reported that Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) originally seized around 50,000 bitcoins from the operators of the popular pirate movie site Movie2k.to in 2013. The BKA obtained the bitcoins in mid-January after receiving a “voluntary transfer” from the suspects.
Tron founder Justin Sun recently suggested buying Bitcoin in the country to reduce the damage to the market.
fears of selling
Although Germany appears to be nearing the end of its sell-off, other entities still need to sell their bitcoins.
Mt. Gox, which was one of the largest bitcoin exchanges until it collapsed in 2014, has begun paying off its debts after a decade-long process. The repayments include more than 140,000 bitcoins, 143,000 bitcoin cash, and 69 billion Japanese yen, totaling about $9 billion.
Many analysts have expressed concern that the unexpected increase in the supply of Bitcoin in the market will put significant downward pressure on prices. They also fear that many creditors will sell their holdings to secure profits.
In addition to the pressure, Genesis Trading has been actively selling Bitcoin over the past month. Genesis has been liquidating assets, which has added to the selling pressure on the market.
These joint actions by Mt. Gox and Genesis Trading — along with the German selloff — have exacerbated Bitcoin’s recent price decline, which has already seen an 18% drop in the past month.
