Is Germany selling its BTC? Arkham-tagged wallet sparks curiosity

Prashant Jha12 hours agoIs Germany selling its BTC? Arkham-tagged wallet sparks curiosityThe German government-labeled wallet held 50,000 BTC since February and moved out 6,500 BTC on June 19.3100 Total views11 Total sharesListen to article 0:00NewsOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTJoin us on social networksA crypto wallet labeled “German Government (BKA)” by the crypto onchain analytics firm Arkham started moving Bitcoin on June 19, sparking curiosity among the community. The wallet movements have led many to believe the German government is selling its BTC holdings.German government seized BTC from pirated movie platform

According to Arkham data, the crypto wallet has held nearly 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC) since February 2024, before moving nearly 6,500 BTC on June 19. The funds are believed to have been seized from the pirated movie website operator Movie2k.Source: Arkham

The German government-linked wallet made four transactions on June 19, with one outflow of 6,500 BTC worth over $425 million to a wallet address “bc1q0unygz3ddt8x0v33s6ztxkrnw0s0tl7zk4yxwd” and another of 2,500 BTC worth $154 million to its own address.Bitcoin movement from German government wallet. Source: Arkham

The wallet address received 6,500 BTC and then moved 2,500 BTC to another wallet address, “bc1qq0l4jgg9rcm3puhhfwaz4c9t8hdee8hfz6738z.” This wallet address then moved the newly received funds in four 500 BTC transactions. Two of these transactions were made to crypto exchanges Kraken and Bitstamp, while the other two were moved to non-labeled private addresses.BTC transfer to exchanges. Source: Arkham

The German government-labeled wallet currently holds 43,359 BTC worth $2.83 billion. While not all the transferred funds were liquidated, many crypto personalities commented on the potential impact of selling such a large stash of BTC.

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One crypto trader claimed that the recent rise in short positions and the dip in the Bitcoin market could be due to the German government’s selling spree.Governments around the globe sell seized BTC

Governments worldwide often confiscate Bitcoin and other digital assets from criminals, and they hold occasional auctions to sell their confiscated crypto holdings. 

The United States government has already sold a significant chunk of the BTC seized from infamous dark web marketplace, the Silk Road. Tim Draper, an American businessman and Bitcoin advocate, bought Silk Road BTC in 2014 at an auction organized by the U.S. Marshals.

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