German Govt. Shares Report on Its Bitcoin Sales
The Saxon Central Office for the Custody and Utilization of Virtual Currencies, a department of the German Government, issued a press release about its nearly month-long sale of seized Bitcoin.
What's the scoop?
- Emergency Sale: The press release stated that the sale was executed under Section 111p of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires emergency sales if an asset drops 10% or more.
- Execution Period: The sale was conducted over three and a half weeks, from June 19th through July 12th, with 90% of the sales done over-the-counter (OTC).
- Sale Dynamics: They state the sale was designed to be market-friendly, standing at less than 1% of the market volume at all times and having no direct influence on Bitcoin prices.
- Proceeds and Future Use: The sales generated 2.64B EUR, with the proceeds held in custody deposits pending the outcome of the ongoing "movie2k" criminal case from which they were seized.
Bankless take:
The sales certainly didn’t feel like they had “no direct influence on Bitcoin prices.” Regardless, given that we will most likely continue to see institutional and governmental actors in the market, the case underscores the need for more responsible governmental digital asset sales to avoid causing market disruptions. While we are still at the beginning of Mt. Gox redistributions, the market optimism despite this seems to signal that government selling, regardless of size, provokes more fear in the market than most other forces — evident in the U.S.’s sales of Bitcoin as well.
Referat Kommunikation und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit