Less than a day ago, the US Government’s Bitcoin wallet sent 3,940 $BTC ($240M) to Coinbase, leaving 213,500 $BTC ($12B) in the wallet.
This almost immediately prompted Bitcoin to dump below the $61K level (–0.85%), causing investors to worry about the coin’s future.
The US is the second country to sell some of its Bitcoin reserves; Germany sold 6,500 $BTC (over $400M) last week.
Several hours ago, a Bitcoin wallet that had been silent for 14 years sent 50 $BTC ($3.05M) to Binance, which could lead to further market destabilization.
Why Are Governments Selling Their Bitcoin, and to Whom?
Several theories surround the governments’ Bitcoin sale:
Entrepreneurs and investors are also wondering whether there’s a connection between the US and Germany’s ‘coordinated’ Bitcoin sales.
All at the same time-
US Govt selling seized Silk Road #Bitcoin.
US Govt selling seized Banmeet Singh BTC.
German Govt selling seized Movie2k BTC.
Mt Gox distributing BTC after a decade.
Interesting.
— Travis Kling (@Travis_Kling) June 26, 2024
Mt. Gox’s announcement of a July repayment to the victims of the 2014 hack also happened in the same period. This caused many to speculate on what could happen to Bitcoin’s price.
William Clemente, co-founder of Reflexivity (a crypto research firm), suggested that last week’s large Bitcoin outflow may have been instigated by whales acting on the Bitcoin selling headlines.
Which Countries Hold the Most Bitcoin?
Before the recent Bitcoin sellouts, governments worldwide held around 569,070 $BTC (or $34B+), amounting to 2.69% of the coin’s total supply.
Country Bitcoin Holding Asset Origin The United States Formerly 217,440, currently 213,500 ($12.9B) Seized over the years from multiple sources like the Silk Road and Banmeet Singh cases China 190,000 ($11.5B) Seized from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme United Kingdom 61,000 ($3.7B) Confiscated from the Zhimin Qian and Jian Wen scammers Germany Formerly 50,000, currently 43,500 ($2.6B) Seized in 2018 from two fraudsters who were running a piracy website Ukraine 46,351 ($2.8B) Confiscated from Yuri Shchigol, a former government official El Salvador 5,690 ($346.3M) Bought in 2021 and 2024 Bhutan 621 ($37.7M) Mined during April 2019 Venezuela 240 ($14.6M) Unknown Finland 90 ($5.4M) Confiscated from narcotics cases Georgia 66 ($4M) Unknown
El Salvador is a staunch Bitcoin supporter, with the country running a program that offers faster citizenship to immigrants who donate Bitcoin to the government.
What’s Next for Bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s price took a hit after the US and Germany sold part of their assets, while $BTC ETFs broke their seven-day losing streak and gained $31M.
We’re already seeing a reversal above $61K (potentially caused by bulls trying to stabilize the price), though the US’s Bitcoin sellout is still fresh news, so it may be a few days until we see the impact.
On the other hand, bullish coordination by investors might stabilize Bitcoin, avoiding a worse bearish scenario. It remains to be seen.
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Alex Popa Crypto & Tech Content Writer 
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