Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy’s chairman, recently aimed a comment at the German government following the liquidation of roughly $3 billion in Bitcoin.
The German government announced that they had dumped 49,858 bitcoin tokens in less than three weeks, with a total estimated value of €2.6 billion, or $2.9 billion. The transaction was described in the statement as an “emergency” measure related to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Industry executives have criticized the government’s decision to liquidate such a large amount of Bitcoin, despite its declared need for transactions. This is especially true when Wall Street giants are realizing this asset class.
Being out of bitcoin is an emergency in itself
Saylor turned to social media on Wednesday to vent his displeasure, saying in German, “It’s not an emergency until you run out of Bitcoin.” His snarky remark implies that being without Bitcoin represents an emergency scenario in itself.
Interestingly, Saylor’s company has invested over $8.3 billion in Bitcoin since 2020, making it a dedicated investor. As a result, the company’s unrealized profit is over $6.2 billion.
Besides the chairman of MicroStrategy, German politicians have complained about the rapid sell-off of Bitcoin.
Lawmaker Joana Cotar argued that the German government should keep Bitcoin as a reserve currency rather than liquidate it. Cotar emphasized that selling Bitcoin by the government in this day and age is both risky and unhelpful.
While Germany has sold its bitcoin assets, other countries, such as El Salvador, have taken a more proactive approach.
El Salvador has accepted Bitcoin as legal currency since 2021, and right now the country holds 5,808 bitcoins worth over $300 million.
In addition, a bill would allow for creating private investment banks using bitcoin and other digital assets in the country.
German officials said the $2.9 billion sale was “market-friendly”
Particularly, Germany’s authorities used a Frankfurt-based bank to sell Bitcoin assets across multiple marketplaces between June 19 and July 12.
Despite publicly available evidence, German authorities declared that the sale of bitcoins was market-friendly. It said that the deals in the market were made in a fair and benign manner.
Nevertheless, the value of Bitcoin dropped by more than 22% during the sale, from $65,695 to $53,717. Notably, Bitcoin has recovered since the sale ended on July 12 and just yesterday hit a new monthly high of $66,066.
