The German government has confirmed a large-scale emergency sale of Bitcoin that commenced in June.

On July 17, an official statement from the state of Sachsen revealed that around 49,858 Bitcoin were sold between June 19 and July 12, 2024, in collaboration with the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The sale generated proceeds of 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion), which are currently held by the Leipzig Regional Court as part of the ongoing criminal proceedings in the “Movie2k case,” according to the statement.

The funds are not yet considered a permanent state asset and await a court decision on whether they can be permanently confiscated.

The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that an emergency sale is legally mandated when there is a significant risk of a value loss of 10% or more before the conclusion of ongoing criminal proceedings.

The asset sale contributed to a decline in Bitcoin’s price during June. The cryptocurrency dropped by 9.8% in the month, decreasing from approximately $67,000 on June 1 to around $60,000 on June 30.

The leading cryptocurrency continued to fall in July, briefly dipping below $55,000 before starting to recover.

“After extensive preparations, the urgent sales of the Bitcoin due to the emergency sale were conducted in numerous small tranches over a period of approximately three and a half weeks,” the translated statement said.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-sale-nets-german-government-2-8-billion

https://medienservice.sachsen.de/medien/news/1077662