According to Arkham Intelligence, the German government has finally offloaded its remaining Bitcoin holdings. A wallet linked to Genesis trading has started moving Bitcoin to Coinbase in what may mark the start of asset liquidations. Meanwhile, Bitcoin entered the “extreme fear” zone, its lowest score since January last year, when the industry was still licking its wounds from FTX’s collapse.
German government’s Bitcoin balance falls to zero
After weeks of dumping its seized Bitcoin on the market, the German government had nothing left to sell as of July 12.
According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the German government sent its final 3,846.05 BTC for liquidation on July 12. As Arkham previously reported, the government likely started selling more than $2 billion worth of BTC through Coinbase Global, Kraken and Bitstamp three weeks ago.
The German selling spree is believed to have contributed to Bitcoin’s large sell-off in recent weeks. Since early June, the largest cryptocurrency has fallen from around $71,000 to below $58,000, including a brief dip below $55,000 on July 7.
Not every member of the German government has supported the mass liquidations. German lawmaker and Bitcoin activist Joana Cotar argued that the seized BTC could have been part of a “strategic reserve currency” to protect against risks in the traditional financial system.
Genesis Trading-labelled address moves $720 million BTC to Coinbase
A cryptocurrency wallet related to Genesis Trading has transferred nearly $720 million worth of Bitcoin to the Coinbase exchange during the past month, pointing to the potential start of asset liquidations.
The Genesis Trading-labeled wallet has transferred over 12,600 Bitcoin (BTC) during the past 30 days, worth $719.9 million, mainly in transactions of 500 to 700 BTC.
The address currently holds 33,356 Bitcoin, down from over 46,000 BTC a month ago, on June 12, according to Arkham Intelligence data.
The multi-million Bitcoin transfers come two months after Letitia James, the attorney general for the State of New York announced that her office reached a settlement with Genesis, requiring the firm to pay $2 billion to defrauded investors over its Earn program.
The settlement requires the funds to be returned to Genesis investors and bans the company from operating in New York.
Bitcoin index falls to “extreme fear” as BTC fails twice to breach $60,000
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index — an indicator that tracks market sentiment toward Bitcoin and crypto — has fallen to “extreme fear,” its lowest level since January last year.
The tumbling index score came as the price of Bitcoin failed to break above the $60,000 mark for the second time in the last 48 hours.
In a July 11 post on X, crypto and forex trader Justin Bennett told his 111,000 followers that Bitcoin’s price level had rejected $60,000 “yet again,” noting the formation of a potential “rising wedge,” which suggests further downside in the coming days.
Bitcoin rallied as high as $59,485 on July 10 before tumbling back down to $57,000 in the following 12 hours. On July 11, BTC once again briefly rallied to $59,529 but failed to hold at that level.
Bitcoin is currently changing hands for $57,499, down 23% from its all-time high notched on March 14 this year, per TradingView data.
Additional reporting by Felix Ng, Sam Bourgi and Geraint Price.
