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German Government Moves Over $75M in Bitcoin to Exchanges – Bitcoin Magazine
THE German The government has transferred another portion of its huge Bitcoin reserves to exchanges.
Second blockchain dataGermany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) moved about $75 million in Bitcoin in multiple transactions on July 4. The funds were distributed across exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp.
This comes after the government moved around $315 million in bitcoin across various platforms from mid-JuneGermany dumped over $390 million in Bitcoin in less than a month.
In 2013, the BKA seized nearly 50,000 bitcoins linked to the former operator of the movie piracy website Movie2K. The trove is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion at today’s prices.
The steady flow of bitcoin to exchanges signals Germany’s potential plans to liquidate parts of its reserves. That has sparked fears of an impact on the market price of bitcoin, which has fallen below $58,000 this week.
However, the amounts transferred so far are a relatively small share of the BKA’s enormous Bitcoin treasure. After the latest movements, Germany still holds around 40,000 Bitcoin.
The sales mirror similar moves by the United States Government in recent weeks. America also holds Bitcoin confiscated from criminal cases, raising concerns that it may be selling off reserves.
Liquidations occur as creditors refunds from Mt. Gox’s The 2014 crash looks set to begin in July. The timing threatens to increase selling pressure on Bitcoin.
However, proponents argue that these amounts are a tiny fraction of Bitcoin’s daily trading volumes.