Germany’s Bitcoin Sale Backfires as Missed Gains Top $2 Billion

Germany may have cost itself over $2 billion by offloading a massive Bitcoin stash too early.

According to Arkham Intelligence, the government liquidated nearly 50,000 BTC in mid-2024—just before the crypto market soared.

The Bitcoin, originally seized from the operators of the defunct Movie2k platform, was sold for an average price of $57,900 across several exchanges. That aggressive liquidation, reportedly aimed at maximizing liquidity, netted around $2.89 billion at the time.

But hindsight paints a different picture. With Bitcoin now trading above $104,000, the same holdings would be worth more than $5.2 billion—marking a $2.35 billion opportunity lost.

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Arkham’s founder, Miguel Morel, criticized the sale strategy, calling it rushed and poorly executed. He noted that spreading sales across multiple exchanges pointed to a scramble for fast exits rather than price efficiency.

Speculation over the government’s offloading had already begun in June 2024, when a wallet associated with the BKA moved 6,500 BTC. The market dipped during the sell-off phase but recovered swiftly once the wallet was empty, suggesting that investor anxiety over more dumping had weighed on prices more than the actual volume sold.

Germany’s decision now stands as a cautionary tale of institutional missteps in crypto markets—where timing remains everything.

Alexander Stefanov