CoinDesk Report:
On July 4, blockchain security platform PeckShield reported that wallets associated with the German government are on the move with BTC. According to the report, approximately 1,300 coins worth around $75 million have been transferred from these wallets to centralized exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp.
This is not the first transfer this week; on July 2, wallets linked to the German government moved 832.7 BTC in four transactions.
#PeckShieldAlert# The Bitcoin address bc1qq0…738z (marked as German government?) has sent to CEX (#Coinbase and #Kraken #Bitstamp
German Government Selling Pressure
This finding is corroborated by encrypted intelligence platform Arkham, which reported similar-sized transfers to the three exchanges. The entity sent 500 BTC to Bitstamp, 400 to Coinbase, and another 400 to Kraken. An unidentified wallet “139Po” also received a hefty transfer of 1,700 BTC worth $98.7 million.
Arkham claims this entity named “German Government (BKA)” still holds around $2.3 billion worth of Bitcoin. The BKA-marked wallets hold 40,359 BTC, potentially adding more selling pressure to the already declining Bitcoin price.
The German government has now sent over $300 million worth of BTC to cryptocurrency exchange addresses and the “139Po” address.
On June 19, wallets marked by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) first raised suspicions of BTC sales, transferring 6,500 coins worth over $425 million. These assets were seized in 2013 from the operator of the popular movie piracy site Movie2k.to, totaling nearly 50,000 BTC, then valued at over $2 billion.
Germany isn’t the only country moving and potentially liquidating Bitcoin. In late June, the U.S. government transferred Silk Road-related BTC worth $240 million to a Coinbase Prime address.
According to Bitcoin Treasuries data, the U.S. holds the most BTC among governments, with 213,246 coins, followed by China with 190,000 BTC.
BTC Dumps 5.5%
Data from CoinGecko shows that these moves have intensified selling pressure, causing BTC to plummet by 5.5% in the past few hours to a low of $57,071.
Apart from the German government’s transactions, recent lows over the past nine weeks are attributed to Mt. Gox reimbursements, miner sales, and U.S. political uncertainty.
Analysts predict the asset could drop to $50,000 during this market correction.