The US Just Sold 3,940 $BTC, Joining Germany’s 6,500 $BTC Sale – Coordinated Maneuver?
- The US government sold $240M worth of Bitcoin (3,940 $BTC) to Coinbase yesterday, joining Germany's sale of 6,500 $BTC the previous week.
- At around the same time, the US government sold the Silk Road and Banmeet Singh's Bitcoin assets, and Mt. Gox announced a Bitcoin repayment in July, over ten years since the hack.
- Bitcoin is down 7.43% in the last week, with a 20% decrease in its 24-hour trading volume, while $BTC ETFs broke a 7-day losing streak by gaining $31M in inflows.
- Crypto entrepreneur Vinny Lingham suggested the Bitcoin sellout by multiple governments could be coordinated.
Less than a day ago, the US Government's Bitcoin wallet sent 3,940 $BTC ($240M) to Coinbase, leaving 213,500 $BTC ($12B) in the wallet.
This almost immediately prompted Bitcoin to dump below the $61K level (-0.85%), causing investors to worry about the coin's future.
The US is the second country to sell some of its Bitcoin reserves; Germany sold 6,500 $BTC (over $400M) last week.
Several hours ago, a Bitcoin wallet that had been silent for 14 years sent 50 $BTC ($3.05M) to Binance, which could lead to further market destabilization.
Why Are Governments Selling Their Bitcoin, and to Whom?Several theories surround the governments' Bitcoin sale:
- A redistribution of wealth
- Automated trading based on market demands
- Selling confiscated Bitcoin to make a profit
- Political move to show Bitcoin's volatility
- Scare tactic to dump Bitcoin's price
Entrepreneurs and investors are also wondering whether there's a connection between the US and Germany's coordinated' Bitcoin sales.
All at the same time-
US Govt selling seized Silk Road #Bitcoin.
US Govt selling seized Banmeet Singh BTC.
German Govt selling seized Movie2k BTC.
Mt Gox distributing BTC after a decade.
Interesting.
- Travis Kling (@Travis_Kling) June 26, 2024
Mt. Gox's announcement of a July repayment to the victims of the 2014 hack also happened in the same period. This caused many to speculate on what could happen to Bitcoin's price.
William Clemente, co-founder of Reflexivity (a crypto research firm), suggested that last week's large Bitcoin outflow may have been instigated by whales acting on the Bitcoin selling headlines.
The biggest question floating around is Who is buying the governments' Bitcoins?'
Which Countries Hold the Most Bitcoin?Before the recent Bitcoin sellouts, governments worldwide held around 569,070 $BTC (or $34B+), amounting to 2.69% of the coin's total supply.
| Country | Bitcoin Holding | Asset Origin |
| The United States | Formerly 217,440, currently 213,500 ($12.9B) | Seized over the years from multiple sources like the Silk Road and Banmeet Singh cases |
| China | 190,000 ($11.5B) | Seized from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme |
| United Kingdom | 61,000 ($3.7B) | Confiscated from the Zhimin Qian and Jian Wen scammers |
| Germany | Formerly 50,000, currently 43,500 ($2.6B) | Seized in 2018 from two fraudsters who were running a piracy website |
| Ukraine | 46,351 ($2.8B) | Confiscated from Yuri Shchigol, a former government official |
| El Salvador | 5,690 ($346.3M) | Bought in 2021 and 2024 |
| Bhutan | 621 ($37.7M) | Mined during April 2019 |
| Venezuela | 240 ($14.6M) | Unknown |
| Finland | 90 ($5.4M) | Confiscated from narcotics cases |
| Georgia | 66 ($4M) | Unknown |
El Salvador is a staunch Bitcoin supporter, with the country running a program that offers faster citizenship to immigrants who donate Bitcoin to the government.
What's Next for Bitcoin?Bitcoin's price took a hit after the US and Germany sold part of their assets, while $BTC ETFs broke their seven-day losing streak and gained $31M.
We're already seeing a reversal above $61K(potentially caused by bulls trying to stabilize the price), though the US's Bitcoin sellout is still fresh news, so it may be a few days until we see the impact.
On the other hand, bullish coordination by investors might stabilize Bitcoin, avoiding a worse bearish scenario. It remains to be seen.
The post The US Just Sold 3,940 $BTC, Joining Germany's 6,500 $BTC Sale - Coordinated Maneuver? appeared first on The Tech Report.