Bitcoin Price Drops as German Federal Agency Sells Millions in Crypto Seized from Movie Piracy Operation
The price of Bitcoin experienced a downward trend on Wednesday, influenced by increased selling pressure from a government agency. Data from Arkham reveals that Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the German Federal Criminal Police Office, liquidated millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin.
On June 19, the BKA transferred $600 million in Bitcoin, with $130 million of that amount directed to exchanges such as Kraken and Bitstamp. The following day, an additional $65 million was moved to Coinbase. Despite these significant transactions, the BKA still maintains a Bitcoin balance of $3.05 billion.
This large-scale movement of Bitcoin stems from a seizure in January, where the BKA confiscated 50,000 BTC from operators of a pirated movie website. This was noted by prosecutors as the largest crypto seizure ever by German authorities. While the specific website was not initially named, it was later identified as movie2k.to in a 2020 investigation.
German prosecutors indicated that the website operators used revenue from advertising and subscriptions to purchase large amounts of Bitcoin. One operator voluntarily transferred 50,000 BTC to government-controlled wallets, with the BKA noting at the time that no final decision had been made regarding the sale of these assets.
Back then, Bitcoin was valued around $43,000 per coin, but the price has since climbed to $65,000.
The BKA’s transactions to crypto exchanges have raised concerns about potential short-term volatility in the Bitcoin market. A pseudonymous trader known as “@DaanCrypto” observed on X (formerly Twitter) that Bitcoin’s price dropped by $500 coinciding with the BKA’s movements.
Despite the potential for market volatility due to the government’s remaining Bitcoin holdings, significant players in the market may help mitigate these effects. For instance, MicroStrategy, a Nasdaq-listed technology firm known for its aggressive Bitcoin acquisition strategy, recently added another 11,931 BTC to its holdings, worth $786 million, bringing its total Bitcoin assets to $8.3 billion.
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