German gov’t missed out on $2.3B profit after selling Bitcoin at $57K

The German government missed out on more than $2 billion worth of Bitcoin profit after selling its holdings in 2024, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.

A “German Government (BKA)” labeled cryptocurrency wallet sold 49,858 Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $2.89 billion at an average price of $57,900 across multiple transactions during June and July in 2024.

The decision to sell the Bitcoin early cost the German government over $2.35 billion, according to crypto intelligence platform Arkham.

Source: Arkham “If they had held it, their BTC would now be worth $5.24B,” Arkham said in a May 19 X post, noting that Bitcoin has risen more than 80% since the sale.

At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at more than $104,700, according to CoinMarketCap data.

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The German government-labeled wallet first raised speculation of a potential sell-off on June 19, 2024, when it executed a 6,500 BTC transfer worth over $425 million.

The wallet originally held around 50,000 BTC, believed to have been seized from the operators of Movie2k, a now-defunct pirated film site.

*Related: **Bitcoin bottom signal? German gov’t runs out of BTC to sell*

*German government rushed sale to maximize liquidity*

The wallet’s selling patterns point to hasty transactions that weren’t optimized for the smallest market impact and best profitability, according to Miguel Morel, founder of Arkham Intelligence.

“The last thing I would have expected is that they would just go to five different exchanges and start market selling,” Morel told Cointelegraph during an interview at EthCC 2024, adding:

“The fact that they’re going to so many different exchanges just reads like they’re just trying to get as much liquidity from each order book as possible[...]”

The reports surrounding the German government’s Bitcoin liquidations may have contributed more to Bitcoin’s downtrend than the volume of sold Bitcoin.

BTC/USDT, 1-month chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin’s price recovered above the $60,000 psychological mark on July 14, a day after the German government-labeled wallet ran out of BTC, putting an end to investor uncertainty about further selling pressure.

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