Overview
- Saxony law enforcement seized roughly 50,000 BTC tied to Movie2K and, under German rules to quickly liquidate seized assets, the government sold the stash over 23 days from June 19 to July 12, 2024.
- Germany disposed of about 49,858 BTC at an average price near $57,900 and raised approximately $2.89 billion by routing trades through major exchanges and trading firms.
- Bitcoin has pulled back to around $62,000, which is about 7% above Germany’s average sell price, and analysts note a further roughly 6% decline would put BTC below the government’s realized level.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $4.33 billion in outflows across a 13‑day stretch, a sustained withdrawal run that analysts say helped drive the recent price drop and erase some of the earlier opportunity cost.
- Governments took different approaches in 2024—El Salvador and Bhutan accumulated Bitcoin while the US and Ukraine reduced or sold holdings—and overall state‑held BTC fell about 12%, a contrast that frames debates over how seized crypto should be managed.