Germany Holds $2.2B Worth of Bitcoin, Blockchain Data Reveals

Germany’s Bitcoin reserves have been dwindling since mid-June, yet the country still retains 29,286 BTC valued at $2.2 billion, according to Arkham Intelligence.

This remaining stash of Bitcoin represents about 9% of the cryptocurrency’s 24-hour trading volume, posing potential selling pressure that could continue to impact the market.

The German government, alongside the reimbursements from Mt. Gox, has recently disrupted the crypto market, indicating ongoing volatility. Germany, the largest economy in the Eurozone, currently holds 39,826 BTC worth $2.2 billion, according to Arkham Intelligence. This reserve, which represents nearly 9% of Bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume of $25.3 billion, hints at possible further price instability.

Earlier this year, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) seized 49,857 BTC from the operators of Movie2k.to, a now-defunct privacy website. Since mid-June, the government has sold over 10,000 BTC, exerting downward pressure on Bitcoin’s market value.

As a result, Bitcoin’s spot price has fallen by nearly 20% to $55,490 over the past four weeks. 

In response to the market impact, Tron founder Justin Sun offered to buy Bitcoin from the German government off-market to mitigate the negative effect on spot prices.

Some analysts argue that Germany’s Bitcoin sales are a strategic error, weakening the country’s geopolitical stance. “The German Government has foolishly transferred more than $390 million worth of BTC to exchanges to be sold for fiat currency. From a geopolitical perspective, selling Bitcoin holdings for fiat currency, which can be printed endlessly, is a strategic blunder,” stated the July 5 edition of the Blockware Intelligence newsletter.

“Bitcoin is much harder to acquire due to the significant physical energy required for mining and its limited supply of 21,000,000,” the newsletter added, emphasizing the strategic value of holding onto Bitcoin rather than liquidating it.