German gov’t prepares for next $276M BTC sell-off

Reported by Cointelegraph: The German government moved 3,100 BTC worth $178 million in one hour, with more sell-offs likely imminent.

The German government has continued its Bitcoin sell-off after sending roughly 3,100 BTC worth around $178 million in the span of an hour on July 9.

At the same time, the government also withdrew roughly 1,700 Bitcoin worth around $91.78 million from Bitstamp, recouping BTC holdings from the exchange.

At the time of writing, the German government has also shifted a further 3,107 BTC out of its main holdings, likely preparing for a further imminent sell-off.

The main government address currently holds around 26,000 BTC worth $1.5 billion, while the address used to off-load holdings currently holds 4,800 BTC worth $276.61 million.

German government sell-off continues


Since 7:30 am UTC July 9, there has been a total outflow of 3,100 BTC, of which 2,500 were sent to an unknown B2C2 Group, 400 BTC to centralized exchange Kraken, and the remaining 200 to an unknown wallet.

The German government sold a further $900 million worth of BTC on July 8, suggesting plans to continue steadily selling off its remaining $1.5 billion in Bitcoin holdings.

That same 16,309 BTC sold is now worth over $930 million despite the mass sell-off, suggesting that buyers are still confident about buying BTC in this price range.

Economic policy impact


Wall Street traders expect a 72% chance of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in September, so the lower interest rate could help boost investment in BTC.

This macroeconomic trend tends to have a marked impact on assets like BTC because it is still seen as a risk-on asset, unlike assets like gold, which liquidity flows into during geopolitical instability.

Coinciding with the BTC sell-off, the reduction in BTC miner activity in operations and reserve sell-offs suggests that the market sentiment might be nearing its bottom.

According to Bitfinex analysts, July 6 and 7 market data evidenced this local bottom despite Mt. Gox starting its BTC and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) repayments.

BTC could be ready to rebound


Despite the BTC sell-offs related to the German government and Mt. Gox repayments to creditors, several indicators suggest BTC is ready to bounce back.

BTC reached its lowest point since late February, touching $53,550 before reversing to current highs of $57,600.

When considering the relative strength index (RSI) indicator during this time, there was a growing divergence between the fall in price and the rise in RSI value, suggesting weakening sell pressure.

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