German bitcoin sell-off spurs investor anxiety, hits lowest since 2024

Germans acquired 50,000 bitcoins in January and have begun selling the cryptocurrency. This situation is causing concern among investors, as bitcoin, due to the sell-off, has reached its lowest price since February 2024, reports bankier.pl.

According to 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, worth around £1.8 billion. The Saxon Police emphasized that this is the largest seizure of bitcoins by law enforcement in Germany to date, and the cryptocurrency was confiscated from the operators of the 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 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 £42 million and 5,739 bitcoins in July, fetching approximately £264 million.

A significant 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, hurt the value of the cryptocurrency. The price fell below £44,000, reaching its lowest since February 2024. Data from CoinGeco showed that in one day, the total market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies decreased by more than £136 billion. Over the past 12 months, the price of Bitcoin has been steadily rising, recording an annual increase of 89 percent.

Currently, the BKA wallet holds approximately 32,488 bitcoins, which, at current prices, translates to about £1.5 billion. However, not all members of the German government are satisfied with this development.

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