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.

“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.

Related: Justin Sun offers to buy German gov’t’s $2.3B Bitcoin stack to minimize market impact

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.