Germany’s movement of over $400 million in Bitcoin sparks sell-off concerns

A cryptocurrency address supposedly belonging to the German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) has moved 6,500 Bitcoin (over $425 million), according to on-chain data. The wallet labeled by blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence holds 50,000 Bitcoins, which are believed to be funds seized from the operators of Movies2k.to.

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The June 19 transactions have sparked curiosity within the crypto community, with many believing that the government agency is planning to sell some of its Bitcoin stash. Despite this, BTC’s price recorded a modest 0.7% increase over the past day, wiping around $22 million from traders speculating on its price, according to Coinglass data.

Over $425 million in Bitcoin moved to an external address

Speculations about a potential sell-off were triggered by the movement of 6,500 BTC from the German government labeled address to a new wallet, “bc1q0uny.” That address further moved some funds with four different 500 BTC transactions. Two transactions sent BTC to Bitstamp and Kraken, while the other two moved funds to two unlabeled addresses.

The BKA-labeled wallet also received 2,500 BTC valued at $163.29 million and now holds 43,359 BTC worth $2.83 billion. This means the bc1q0uny address is no longer holding any Bitcoin. While the merry-go-round nature of the transactions appears to be a way to mask their true intentions, many in the crypto community believe that the agency is planning to sell some of the Bitcoin.

Generally, moving cryptocurrencies from cold wallets to exchanges signifies an intention to sell, especially after a long period of dormancy. The BKA wallet has been inactive since mid-January after it received 50,000 BTC from film piracy website Movie2k.to operators. According to Arkham, the website operators voluntarily transferred crypto worth about $2 billion, likely as part of their settlement deal with authorities.

US holds the largest Bitcoin among other countries

Germany is not the only government with a substantial Bitcoin bag. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, the United States has emerged as the biggest BTC holder through its numerous crypto asset seizures. The country holds 213,246 BTC worth almost $14 billion. It is followed by China, which holds 190,000 Bitcoin worth $12.3 billion, while the UK completes the top three with 61,000 BTC, estimated at $3 billion.

Notably, El Salvador has expended a sizeable amount of its reserves to purchase the flagship digital asset, holding nearly 600 BTC, estimated to be worth approximately $400 million. Meanwhile, other countries on the list acquired their BTC majorly through seizures, with only Ukraine gaining it via donations. Nevertheless, the countries around the world hold around 567,315.75 Bitcoins, equivalent to approximately 3% of the crypto asset’s total supply.