Germany Unloads Record-Breaking 16,000 Bitcoin Stash To Exchanges In Single Day

On Monday, German authorities intensified their Bitcoin sell-off, causing significant price volatility for the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization on the market, Bitcoin (BTC). 

After a brief spike above $58,000 over the weekend, BTC has seen a retracement of over 2% in the past few hours as German authorities continue to add to the ongoing selling pressure in the BTC market. 

German Authorities Increase Bitcoin Selling Activity

According to data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham, German authorities initiated multiple transfers to exchanges and market makers, marking a substantial increase in their selling activity. 

On-chain data of the German authorities’ wallet shows that the first transaction involved over 2,730 BTC, equivalent to $155 million, followed by an additional transfer of 8,100 BTC worth over $463 million. 

The authorities continued their sell-off without stopping by sending another 5,200 BTC worth $297 million to Kraken, Bitstamp, and Coinbase. These transactions cumulatively made it the largest selling day for the German authorities, with over 16,000 BTC sold just on Monday.

Arkham data also shows that the German authorities’ continued selling pressure has reduced their holdings to 23,787.7 BTC, valued at approximately $1.32 billion, representing less than half of the BTC originally seized in January 2024. 

Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of the market data analytics firm CryptoQuant, suggests that the impact of government BTC sales may be “overestimated.” According to Ju, government-seized BTC accounts for around $9 billion in the realized cap, only 4% of the total cumulative realized value since 2023, suggesting a small long-term impact on the BTC market. 

Ju further explained that despite $224 billion worth of Bitcoin being sold since 2023, the cryptocurrency’s price has risen by 350%, indicating “manageable” sell-side liquidity for BTC investors.

BTC Stage Notable Comeback With $400 Million Inflows

Following the intensified selling activity by German authorities and the resulting volatility in the crypto market, BTC investment products have experienced a positive turnaround. 

After three weeks, products tied to the world’s largest cryptocurrency lost more than $1.2 billion, and digital asset investment products experienced a notable turnaround, according to a Monday report from asset manager CoinShares. 

According to the data, Bitcoin digital funds led the way with approximately $400 million inflows. This positive surge in investments comes when the price of Bitcoin briefly dipped to $54,000, marking its lowest level since February.

Among the Bitcoin funds, Fidelity and ProShares emerged as the top contenders, attracting inflows of about $200 million and $100 million, respectively. However, Grayscale’s fund remained in the red, experiencing a loss of around $90 million. 

Despite this setback, the report suggests that the overall market trend of positive inflows suggests a growing interest in digital asset investment products following the dramatic price drops recorded.

At the time of writing, BTC regained the $56,200 level. Still, the largest cryptocurrency on the market is down 11% and 7% in the seven-day and fourteen-day time frames, respectively. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com