The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has fallen by 20% in value over the past month, a result of increased selling pressure imposed by German authorities in recent weeks.
Reserves of Bitcoin Nearing Depletion
This selling frenzy started last month when the German government began selling bitcoin that was seized from wallets operated by the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the country’s equivalent of the Federal Criminal Police Office.
In June, BKA sold 900 bitcoins, worth a total of $52 million at the time. The bitcoins were taken from a movie piracy website that was shut down. The government then sold 3,000 BTC for around $172 million, and this week it sold 2,739 BTC for around $155 million.
Besides these numbers, the German government’s wallet sold over 5,000 bitcoins on Wednesday, leaving it with just 15,552 bitcoins, worth about $892 million. This represents the sale of over 80% of the 50,000 bitcoins seized. This information was obtained from the blockchain analytics firm Arkham.
Germany’s remaining BTC holdings with a value of $892 million. Source: Arkham Intelligence platform
Price Remains Stable As BlackRock Steps In
The 6-month support level of $50,000 has not been broken by the big sell-off of Bitcoin. This shows tenacity in the face of the severe selling pressure the market has experienced over the previous thirty days.
Furthermore, many investors, particularly institutional asset managers, saw the recent retreat from all-time highs as a buying opportunity, which contributed to Bitcoin’s minor recovery during the last few days. Akrham even wrote on social media, “The German government is selling, but Blackrock is buying.”
According to recent data, on Wednesday, the Bitcoin ETF market activity saw a net addition of 4,862 BTC worth $281 million, minimizing the impact of the German authorities’ daily sell-off.
For example, BlackRock, one of the largest ETF issuers in terms of assets under management, today increased its holdings of Bitcoin by 2,095 BTC (equivalent to $121.16 million), bringing its total holdings to 312,565 BTC, or $18.08 billion. This move helped stabilize and support the price of Bitcoin.
The daily chart shows BTC’s sideways price action for the past 24 hours above the $57,000 level. Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
The biggest cryptocurrency in the market is trading at $57,799 at the time of this writing, roughly stable from Tuesday’s price after declining 0.4% over the past day. Still, Bitcoin’s cost has fallen over 22% from its crest of $73,700, which was come to in mid-March.
