The German government has been actively liquidating the 50,000 Bitcoins (BTC) it confiscated from the online piracy platform Movie2K in January. Recent data from Arkham Intelligence highlights that the government moved 2,700 BTC to various destinations, including centralized exchanges, B2C2 Group, and wallets linked to an over-the-counter (OTC) service address.
German Government Resumes Bitcoin Transfers
At around 10:00 AM CET today, the German government transferred 500 BTC, valued at approximately $28.63 million, to an OTC service wallet. Shortly thereafter, it sent 400 BTC each to major exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp. Additionally, 1,000 BTC were directed to a wallet associated with B2C2 Group, as reported by Arkham.
In the past 12 hours, the government also retrieved 4,169 BTC from these exchanges. Bitstamp returned around 994 BTC worth $57.12 million at 10:31 PM CET, followed by another 574 BTC later in the night. Further transfers brought the total returned Bitcoin to over 1,627 BTC.
How Much BTC Does the German Government Have Left?
Kraken returned 597.6 BTC around the same time as Bitstamp’s initial transfer, and another 363.5 BTC later. Coinbase contributed by returning 311.8 BTC at 10:32 PM CET and an additional 451 BTC at 9:12 PM CET. These returns are likely due to regulatory constraints on selling the cryptocurrency, necessitating their return to the government.
Valuable Inferences
- Government actions indicate a preference for liquidating digital assets via multiple exchanges and OTC services.
- Frequent returns of BTC suggest regulatory hurdles in selling large amounts on centralized platforms.
- Monitoring government transactions can provide insights into market movements and potential BTC price impacts.
- The pace of BTC liquidation by the German government suggests a rapid depletion of their holdings within a week if current trends persist.
Currently, the German government retains 6,384 BTC, valued at approximately $364.59 million. Experts believe that if the selling spree continues at the current rate, the German government may exhaust its BTC reserves within a week.