While Traders HODL, Germany Loses $3.6B Dumping 50K BTC Before $125K ATH

Germany has missed out on nearly $3.6 billion in potential profits after selling its seized Bitcoin (BTC) stash well before the asset’s explosive surge past $125,000. Key Takeaways: Germany missed out on $3.57 billion in unrealized gains after selling 50,000 BTC before Bitcoin’s surge past $125,000. Lawmakers criticized the early liquidation, while the US opted to hold nearly 200,000 BTC in a strategic ￰0￱ the misstep, Germany continues advancing crypto regulation, adoption, and tax reform ahead of ￰1￱ early 2024, the German government held 50,000 BTC , then worth around $2.2 billion, following a seizure from the operators of Movie2K, a piracy ￰2￱ July 12, 2024, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) had sold nearly the entire amount for approximately $2.89 billion, averaging $57,900 per ￰3￱ Misses $3.57B Gain After Selling BTC Before $125K Surge Just over a year later, Bitcoin has more than doubled in ￰4￱ $125,000 per BTC, Germany’s 50,000 Bitcoin would now be worth $6.25 ￰5￱ early liquidation cost the country an estimated $3.57 billion in unrealized ￰6￱ sell-off was conducted in compliance with German law, which mandates the sale of volatile seized assets to protect against further price ￰7￱ argue the move was ￰8￱ member Joana Cotar urged lawmakers last July to consider holding Bitcoin as a strategic reserve, saying, “It is not sensible to sell the Bitcoins ￰9￱ would be better to keep them as a reserve currency.” Statt #Bitcoin als strategische Reservewährung zu halten, wie es in den USA bereits debattiert wird, verkauft unsere Regierung im großen ￰10￱ habe @MPKretschmer , @c_lindner & @Bundeskanzler @OlafScholz darüber informiert, warum dies nicht nur nicht sinnvoll, sondern… ￰11￱ — Joana Cotar (@JoanaCotar) July 4, 2024 By contrast, the US government has taken a more patient ￰12￱ currently holds 198,022 BTC, valued at over $24 billion, and recently launched a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve with no plans for liquidation.

Germany’s missed windfall comes despite its growing commitment to the digital asset ￰13￱ is fully legal in the country under the European Union’s MiCA regulation, with oversight from BaFin, Germany’s financial ￰14￱ adoption is accelerating, particularly among Gen Z and millennials, who are expected to make up half of Germany’s projected 27 million crypto users by ￰15￱ Bank is preparing to roll out digital asset custody services by 2026, and the government is pushing forward with tax reforms and stricter reporting ￰16￱ on long-term crypto holdings remain tax-free if held for over a year, and DAC 8 regulations will soon require crypto providers to disclose transaction details to tax ￰17￱ May Have Missed $5B in Untouched Movie2K Bitcoin, Arkham Finds In September, crypto analytics firm Arkham uncovered over 45,000 BTC , worth nearly $5 billion, still sitting idle in more than 100 wallets tied to the defunct piracy site ￰18￱ coins, untouched since 2019, were not part of Germany’s official seizure earlier this year, raising concerns that authorities may have overlooked a major portion of the case’s digital assets.

“This is most likely still under the control of the Movie2K operators,” Arkham wrote. “It has not moved since 2019 and is split across more than 100 wallets.”