Bitcoin (BTC) fell on Monday afternoon in Europe as the German government moved another $500 million of assets, blockchain data shows.
According to blockchain trading platform Arkham Intelligence, a Bitcoin address tagged as belonging to the German government moved 8,700 BTC to an intermediate wallet before transferring assets to crypto exchanges Bitstamp, Kraken and Coinbase and market maker Flow Traders.
Blockchain data of the German government's BTC holdings (Arkham Intelligence)Bitcoin's price dropped 3% to as low as $55,000 shortly after the blockchain transactions. Later, it rebounded to slightly above $56,000, still down 1.2% over the past 24 hours.
The price action came after last week's slide to the lowest price since February. Market observers pointed to a massive supply overhang coming to the market during the relatively quiet and low-volume summer season with the German and U.S. governments apparently selling seized assets just as the defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox starts to issue repayments.
With the latest transfers, the German government's holdings have now reduced to 23,800 BTC worth $1.3 billion, according to Arkham data.
Edited by Sheldon Reback.