US, Germany Move Over $100 Million in Bitcoin as Market Braces for Impact

By Sander Lutz

The German government is moving huge sums of Bitcoin again, days after similar moves by the European nation apparently helped lead to BTC’s price dipping—and the United States is moving Bitcoin as well.

On Monday morning, wallets known to be associated with the German government moved some $94.94 million worth of BTC to several destinations, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

In total, 1,500 BTC was moved. Many of the tokens were spread across accounts at major crypto exchanges: 200 BTC went to a Bitstamp account, 100 BTC went to a Coinbase account, and another 100 BTC was sent to a Kraken wallet. 

The remaining 1,100 BTC was split between two unknown wallets—500 BTC sent to one, and 600 BTC to another. 

This morning’s activity marks the latest crypto-related movements for the German government, which has executed a flurry of token transfers over the last few weeks. The German government is one of the largest state holders of crypto in the world, with some $2.8 billion worth of seized BTC in its possession. 

Last month, Germany began liquidating that supply, selling off more than $195 million worth of BTC in a span of less than 24 hours. In short order, the sell pressure pushed BTC’s price down about 3.5%.

Today’s transfers don’t appear to have included any token sales. BTC’s price remained stable this morning, up a sturdy 2% to $62,930 at writing. 

The United States, handily the largest state holder of crypto in the world, also made crypto-related moves on Monday. Wallets associated with the U.S. government moved 3,375 ETH, worth $11.75 million at writing, to an unknown address.

Last week, the U.S. moved 3,940 BTC, worth some $248 million, to a Coinbase Prime account. According to Arkham, the funds were seized from Banmeet Singh, an Indian drug kingpin who sold narcotics for crypto on dark web marketplaces. 

Singh pled guilty earlier this year; as an element of his plea deal, he forfeited his crypto holdings to American authorities, in the largest-ever crypto and cash seizure by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

The American government currently holds more than $13.8 billion worth of crypto, according to Arkham. Over 97% of those holdings are in Bitcoin.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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