German Government Operates as a Crypto Whale

The German government just moved $15 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and put it onto accounts on Kraken and Bitstamp. That is more than 600 bitcoins.

The government has been seizing thousands of bitcoins from illegal operators in the country, including about 50,000 BTC from movie pirates. Back in January, they seized a large Bitcoin stash from piracy website Movie2k.

This and other seizures are part of a larger operation to take criminal bitcoin assets and put them into  government-owned accounts. Multiple transfers have been moved to account on Kraken and Bitstamp,

These seizures have been happening all year, totaling up to about $15 million worth in Bitcoin. But the trend of transferring the money into specific exchange addresses is more recent, starting just last week.

Even though the German government has been making these massive transfers, they still own billions in Bitcoin. Estimates place the German government’s total holding at about $2.8 billion. That is about 45,609 BTC.

German authorities brought in $20.1 million in BTC from Kraken in this month alone, as well as about $5.5 million from other exchanges.

Bitcoin Affected by the Transfers

The movement of so much money has had quite an impact on Bitcoin. Around the time that these transfers took place, Bitcoin dropped about 6%, but the government transfers were not the only factor at work causing the price drop.

If the German government is liquidating much of its digital assets, that could mean big things for the crypto market. Bitcoin has suffered extensive selloff in recent weeks, partly from scared investors who see the price dropping and want to get out fast.

When you have a massive selloff happening, even if they are not caused by panic, they tend to build up and create a snowball effect that is difficult to stop. More and more investors see the trend happening and want to lower their risk, so they sell off as well.  

It looks like the crypto market, and Bitcoin in particular, are slowing down in the movement and settling into a stabler price level. However, with billions in Bitcoin still to do something with, the German government could cause another price slide if they wanted to.