The German Federal Criminal Office, also known as Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), recently transferred $362 million in bitcoin on July 9th, bringing its total assets to $1.3 billion. The BKA is expected to liquidate these assets soon, impacting the cryptocurrency market.
Arkham Intelligence reported the BKA’s wallet activity on X, stating that the German government was selling up to 6306.9 BTC ($362.12M). The government sent bitcoins to various platforms such as Kraken, Cumberland, and an institutional deposit/OTC service. Within the span of 20 minutes, 3206.9 BTC ($184.58M) was moved, indicating the swift movement of the government’s holdings.
Due to the BKA offloading its bitcoin holdings, the cryptocurrency market has seen a drop in prices over the past month. Bitcoin fell below the $60,000 mark recently and has struggled to recover. The ongoing selling pressure from the BKA’s wallet is expected to further impact bitcoin’s price in the coming days.
Despite the recent price fluctuations, July has been a positive month for bitcoin holders, with the asset consistently gaining about 9% over the past few weeks. The BKA’s recent transfers include $55 million to Kraken, $6 million to Cumberland, and $287.07 million to an unlabelled wallet, which is likely an OTC institutional service.
While the BKA has moved significant amounts of assets out of its wallet, it has also received bitcoins from platforms such as Bitstamp and Kraken. These transactions have contributed to bitcoin’s price facing resistance in June and dropping below $60,000 in early July.
In response to the BKA’s actions, a German legislator has urged the government to consider holding some of the assets to diversify its reserves. The impact of the government’s decision to liquidate its bitcoin holdings will continue to be felt in the cryptocurrency market in the coming days. Investors and analysts will be closely monitoring the situation to assess the long-term effects on bitcoin’s price and market stability.