Bitcoin Price Dips As Germany Offloads $2B Of BTC In One Week

Crypto markets retraced on Friday amid a recent acceleration in the German government’s efforts to offload its Bitcoin holdings.

At the time of the writing, the wallet flagged as belonging to the German government holds just 3,846 BTC ($223,000) — down from 50,000 BTC ($3.2 billion) on June 19, according to Arkham Intelligence.

Arkham’s data shows the wallet transferring 13,951 BTC ($800 million) to exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase, and Kraken, alongside brokers and market makers including Flow Traders and Cumberland DRW.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell 2% over the past 24 hours to last change hands for $58,000, according to CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 1.3% and is trading for $3,120. Polkadot (DOT) and Solana (SOL) both fell 4%.

Just seven of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap posted a gain of more than 1% for the day. Ripple (XRP) led the pack with 3.1%, followed by MakerDAO (MKR) with 2.3%, and Cronos (CRO) with 1.6%.

Bonk (BONK) suffered the heaviest loss with 9.9%, followed by Arweave (AR) with 8.2%, and Brett (BRETT) with 7.1%.

Germany dumps BTC

In January, German authorities announced they had seized 50,000 BTC from an individual connected to Movie2k, a website distributing pirated movies. Its Bitcoin stash was left untouched until June 19, when Germany began offloading its holdings.

The selling intensified this past week, with the wallet’s balance falling from 40,000 BTC ($2.2 billion) on July 8 to 3,846 BTC ($223,000) today. The data suggests the Bitcoin markets absorbed the heavy sales with relative ease despite last weekend’s violent sell-off.

“It’s incredible that this sell pressure has been absorbed and that Bitcoin’s price is around $60K,” tweeted Michael Van de Poppe, the CEO of MN Trading.

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also posted a bullish week in spite of the sales, with the sector attracting positive inflows of $675.9 million, according to Farside. BlackRock’s IBIT fund recorded inflows of $402 million, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $243 million.

Stock markets edge up

S&P 500 futures also posted a slight gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped slightly, falling by 0.11%.

U.S. Treasury yields also recorded a slight increase. The yield on 10-year treasuries went up more than three basis points, reaching 4.225%, while 2-year treasury yields rose slightly to 4.516%.

The rise in Treasury yields may signal that investors are uncertain about future inflation and interest rates.

Markets expect data for the Producer Price Index (PPI), which monitors wholesale prices, to be published later today.

Related: Crypto Markets Surge On Inflation Hitting Three-Year Low