Germany’s $2.89B Bitcoin sale narrows gap as BTC nears $62k

Germany sold 49,858 bitcoin in 2024 for $2.89 billion. Bitcoin is trading near $62,000, roughly 7% above the $57,900 average price the government received. Arkham Intelligence tracked wallet movements tied to the sale and flagged that a 6% drop from current levels would push bitcoin below that average.

Saxon authorities seized the coins in January 2024 from operators of the piracy site Movie2K. German law requires prompt disposal of seized assets, and the government completed the liquidation between June 19 and July 12, 2024. The coins were routed through Kraken, Bitstamp, Coinbase, Cumberland and Flow Traders during the three-week sale.

The government raised $2.89 billion at an average price of $57,900 per bitcoin. Critics reacted as bitcoin rose after the liquidation; calculations using the 2025 peak indicated the same stash could have been worth more than $6.6 billion. An investor wrote at the time, ‘I feel very sad for the German people.’

Market moves in 2026 narrowed the gap between the market price and Germany’s exit level. Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on major exchanges for the first time since 2024, and spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.33 billion in outflows over a 13-day streak. The difference between the market price and the government’s average sale price fell from more than 100% at the 2025 peak to under 7%.

Other governments adjusted crypto holdings in 2024. The United States began liquidating some of its bitcoin reserves and Ukraine completed a full sale; together with the U.S. these actions contributed to an estimated 12% decline in state-held crypto among those countries. El Salvador and Bhutan increased bitcoin positions, while China and the United Kingdom reported no significant purchases or sales that year.

Arkham’s on-chain analysis traced the coins through exchanges to identify the $57,900 exit level. The firm highlighted that a modest further decline from current prices would eliminate the remaining margin above Germany’s sale price.