The German government has moved 650 BTC, valued at more than $36 million, to cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to data by Arkham Intelligence, 250 BTC worth of Bitcoin was moved to Coinbase, and a similar amount was transferred to Bitstamp.
The government wallet later transferred an additional 150 BTC, worth over $8 billion, to the Kraken exchange.
The German government has sold around $1 billion worth of Bitcoin. As per Arkham data, the wallet address owned by the German government now holds $2.1 billion worth of Bitcoin.
The ongoing sale of BTC by the government-owned wallet address has caused turbulence across the cryptocurrency market, with the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index currently at 28, showing a state of fear.
German Government Sells Bitcoin Amid Price Drop
The German government is selling Bitcoin, which is believed to have been seized by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
German authorities seized 49,857 BTC from a movie piracy website known as Movie2k.to. This piracy website has been taken down since its last activity in 2013.
The German government is now looking to convert the seized coins into foat, and it has moved 10,000 BTC since mid-last month.
The news of these sales has put pressure on the price of Bitcoin. BTC has dumped by around 10% in the last seven days to trade at $57,123 as of 08:00 a.m. EST.
However, not all crypto market participants believe that the recent dumping activity by the German government will continue to affect prices.
According to one analyst on X, the effect of the German government selling BTC will diminish with time as the amount of coins held declines significantly.
Therefore, as the market gets used to the news of sales, the effect on the price will be considerably lower.
To alleviate the pressure of these sales, Tron founder Justin Sun offered to buy all the BTC held by the German government.
In an X post, Sun noted that he was willing to negotiate an off-market purchase rate and minimize its impact on the market.
Legislator Criticises Government
The recent sale of BTC by the German government has attracted the attention of legislators in the country.
German pro-Bitcoin legislator Joana Cotar recently urged the government to halt the selling spree and adopt BTC as a “strategic reserve currency.”
In a post on X, Cortar noted that selling Bitcoin was “not only not sensible, but counterproductive.” She urged the government to refrain from hastily disposing of these coins in the market.
Cotar also mentioned multiple use cases of BTC, saying it could help the country diversify into other financial products, such as treasury assets, and act as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation.
