Germany's bitcoin sell-off sparks investor anxiety

Germans, who acquired 50,000 bitcoins in January, started selling the cryptocurrency. This situation worries investors, as bitcoin, due to the sell-off, reached the lowest price since February 2024, reports say.

As reported by bankier.pl, the bitcoins came into the possession of the German government during a police operation in Saxony in January. During this operation, the authorities seized approximately 50,000 bitcoins, which were worth around CAD 2.97 billion at that time. The Saxon Police emphasized that this is the largest seizure of bitcoins by law enforcement in Germany. The cryptocurrency was confiscated from the operators of Movie2k to the website, which had been involved in film piracy since 2013.

The seized cryptocurrencies were transferred to a wallet managed by the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) and have been gradually sold over the past few weeks, reports the portal. Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain analysis company, stated that in June alone, the BKA sold 900 bitcoins for around CAD 70 million, and in July, another 5,739 bitcoins, or approximately CAD 440 million.

A large sell-off of bitcoins by Germany, combined with the pressure resulting from the start of bitcoin payouts for creditors of the bankrupt Mt. Gox exchange, harmed the value of the cryptocurrency. The price fell below CAD 74,000, reaching the lowest since February 2024. Data from CoinGecko showed that in one day, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies decreased by more than CAD 228 billion. Over the past 12 months, the price of Bitcoin has been steadily rising, recording an annual increase of 89 per cent.

Currently, the BKA wallet holds approximately 32,488 bitcoins, which, at current prices, translates to around CAD 2.56 billion. However, not all members of the German government are satisfied with this development.

Bundestag member Joana Cotar believes the government should hold cryptocurrency as a strategic currency reserve. According to reports, Cotar announced that she would convince Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Minister of Finance, and the Prime Minister of Saxony to stop further sales of bitcoins.