Bitcoin Drops After German Sell-Off – E24

Germany is dumping Bitcoin, putting pressure on the cryptocurrency. The value is at its lowest level in several months.

For several weeks, the German government has been selling bitcoin worth several hundred million dollars, writes CNBC.

The German sell-off is cited as a factor in why the cryptocurrency's price has recently fallen.

The price fell 11.5 percent last week, while it fell 18.9 percent last month, according to CoinMarketCap.

The price of one Bitcoin is now $56,400.

Bitcoin fell below $55,000 on Friday, its lowest level since February.

Last month, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police, the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), began selling bitcoin.

BKA reportedly sold 900 bitcoins in June, worth around $52 million, or more than 550 million Norwegian kroner.

The money came from a seizure that became public knowledge in January of this year. German police seized a total of 50,000 bitcoins worth around NOK 22.6 billion from two men in the state of Saxony.

The two are said to have been behind the pirate site Movie2k, a site that offered illegal movie downloads and streaming until 2013.

Bitcoin worth 20 billion Norwegian kroner

Last week, the government sold 3,000 bitcoins worth about $172 million, and another 2,739 bitcoins, or $155 million, on Monday.

Today, BKA holds approximately 32,488 bitcoins, with a total value of about $1.9 billion, or just over 20 billion kroner, according to CNBC.

James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, told CNBC that while the amounts involved were “relatively small,” the selloff “has had an impact on market sentiment.”

Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin has risen by more than 85 percent in the past 12 months.