The German government’s extensive Bitcoin selloff appears to have ended as the country’s Bitcoin wallet reached a zero balance on Friday afternoon. For several days, Germany had been transferring thousands of Bitcoin to various exchanges and market makers in a concerted effort to liquidate the cryptocurrency it seized in January.
According to data compiled by Arkham Intelligence, Germany transferred 3,846.05 BTC ($223.81 million) to Kraken on Friday. Earlier in the day, the wallet also moved bitcoins to addresses associated with Bitstamp, Coinbase, Kraken, B2C2 Group, Cumberland DRW, and an unlabeled OTC service address.
This series of Bitcoin transfers aligns with the German government’s strategy to sell the 50,000 bitcoins confiscated from the now-defunct film piracy website Movie2K. When Germany initially seized the 50,000 bitcoins, their value was estimated at over $2 billion.
The selloff began last month, with Germany executing staggered transfers of Bitcoin to various exchanges. Despite the strategic approach to liquidate the assets, at least one German lawmaker expressed opposition to the plan to sell the confiscated Bitcoin.
