German government sends another $17.6 million in bitcoin to Coinbase, Bitstamp and Kraken: Arkham
Quick Take
- The German government appeared to send another 282.74 BTC ($17.6 million) to Coinbase, Bitstamp and Kraken on July 2, according to Arkham.
- The government-labeled addresses have now sent around $193 million worth of bitcoin to known crypto exchange addresses since last month.
Bitcoin addresses labeled as belonging to German authorities appeared to send another 282.74 
BTC
-5.79%
($17.6 million) to Coinbase, Bitstamp and Kraken on Tuesday morning — indicating a potential intention to sell the assets — according to on-chain analytics provider Arkham.
The German government-labeled addresses began sending bitcoin to crypto exchanges last month following the seizure of 50,000 BTC from the film-piracy site Movie2k in January.
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) sent 100 BTC ($6.2 million) to Coinbase, 150 BTC ($9.4 million) to Bitstamp and 32.74 BTC ($2 million) to Kraken at around 8:20 a.m. UTC on July 2, the blockchain analytics platform's data show.
Additionally, it sent 550 BTC ($34.3 million) at the same time to the address “139Po,” per Arkham’s data. The platform has yet to identify that address, but it could also belong to an exchange.
German government has now sent bitcoin worth $193 million to known exchanges
The latest transfers follow the 200 BTC ($12.6 million) sent to Bitstamp, 100 BTC ($6.3 million) to Coinbase and 100 BTC ($6.3 million) to Kraken by the German government on Monday, as well as a further 1,100 BTC ($69.4 million) to the “139Po” address.
Overall, approximately $193 million worth of the seized bitcoin has now been transferred by the German government to addresses labeled as belonging to crypto exchanges, with a further $251 million sent to the “139Po” address.
RELATED INDICES
On June 26, the German government also sent 345.34 BTC ($21.2 million) to market maker Flow Traders following a test transaction, which may mean they sold the bitcoin through the firm, analytics firm Lookonchain said at the time.
However, the German government appeared to receive back 475 BTC ($29.2 million) from Kraken, Bitstamp and Coinbase-labeled addresses on June 27. That followed another 310 BTC ($20.1 million) it received from Kraken on June 20. It also previously received an additional 90 BTC ($5.5 million) from wallets linked to Robinhood, Bitstamp and Coinbase, according to Arkham.
The German government currently holds 43,859 BTC, worth around $2.7 billion at current prices, per Arkham data. Germany is among the largest known nation-state holders of bitcoin behind the United States, China and the UK with 213,246 BTC, 190,000 BTC and 61,000 BTC, respectively, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
Bitcoin is currently trading for $62,619, according to The Block’s bitcoin price page. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is down around 4% since the German government began moving funds to exchanges on June 18.
BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
