Blockchain
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Drops to $55,000 as German Government Moves Another $500 Million in Assets
Bitcoin (BTC) fell Monday afternoon in Europe, as the German government moved more than $900 million in assets from its bitcoin vaults, blockchain data shows.
According to the blockchain data platform Arkham IntelligenceBitcoin wallets labeled as belonging to the German government transferred a total of approximately 16,309 BTC in several batches to external addresses, including cryptocurrency exchanges Bitstamp, Kraken, and Coinbase, and market makers Flow Traders and Cumberland DRW.
Bitcoin price dropped 3% to a low of $55,000 shortly after the latest batch of blockchain transactions totaling 8,700 BTC. It later rebounded to just over $56,000, still down 1.2% over the past 24 hours.
The price action came after last week’s decline to its lowest price since February. Market observers have pointed to a huge oversupply coming into the market during the relatively quiet, low-volume summer season, with the German and U.S. governments apparently selling off seized assets just as defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox begins issuing refunds.
With the latest transfers, the German government has passed the halfway point of its sales drive, with stakes now reduced to According to Arkham data, 23,788 BTC worth $1.3 billion from 50,000 BTC since it began dumping the tokens last month.
UPDATE (July 8, 16:10 UTC): Update headline, story with aggregate numbers of BTC transferred from German government addresses, citing Arkham.