German Government Returns Around 3,000 Bitcoins Out of Over 10,000 BTC Previously Put Up for Sale
Blockchain analyst Arkham Intelligence has reported a significant event: the German government has returned around 3,000 bitcoins out of over 10,000 BTC that were previously put up for sale by the country’s authorities. Among the assets returned were 5,200 BTC sent to market maker Flow Traders, 4,200 BTC sent to B2C2 Group, 2,350 BTC to Bitstamp, 2,050 BTC to Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), and 1,250 BTC deposited on the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
Reasons for Bitcoin Returns
According to Steven Zhang, research director at The Block’s analytical service, the return of some bitcoins to the German government, especially those sent from the American crypto exchange Coinbase, may indicate that these were unsold remnants of bitcoins within the crypto asset sale deal. Zhang noted that this is likely related to a new agreement between crypto exchanges, market makers, and German authorities.
Market Context
Steven Zhang also pointed out the particular context in which these sales took place. At the time of active sales of bitcoins from the German state reserve, the crypto market faced sharp volatility. This volatility was partly caused by the beginning of compensations to investors of the bankrupt exchange Mt. Gox, significantly undermining the stability of bitcoin prices. In light of these events, exchanges and market makers likely faced difficulties in realizing bitcoins within the target price range and were forced to return them to Germany.
German Government Bitcoin Balance
Earlier, Arkham Intelligence provided data that the German government holds 39,826 BTC, equivalent to $2.2 billion. This amounts to about 9% of the daily trading volume of bitcoins, which currently stands at $25.3 billion.
This return of bitcoins raises new questions about future operations with crypto assets and may signal potential changes in sales strategy and digital asset management on the international stage.
