German Police Move $24 Million in Bitcoin to Kraken and Coinbase
The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) recently transferred $24 million in Bitcoin across two separate transactions to the popular crypto exchanges, Kraken and Coinbase. This was recorded during the early hours in Europe, according to Arkham data.
Additional Bitcoin Movements
In parallel, another $30 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) was moved to a new wallet which hasn't been tagged as an exchange yet. These new transactions are on top of substantial previous movements:
- $130 million in BTC sent to exchanges on June 19
- $65 million in BTC moved on June 20
Insights from Arkham CEO
Arkham CEO, Miguel More, commented that moving Bitcoin to exchanges could signal an intention to sell. To put things into perspective:
- A $24 million Bitcoin sale is considered small given that over $40 billion worth of BTC changed hands in the last 24 hours.
- There’s readily available liquidity for up to $20 million in a BTC trade on Binance alone, suggesting the amount is unlikely to immediately affect prices.
Background on the Seized Bitcoins
The BKA seized nearly 50,000 BTC, valued at over $2 billion at that time, from operators of Movie2k.to, a pirate film website active in 2013. The Bitcoin was voluntarily transferred from the suspects to the BKA in mid-January.
This ongoing movement of BTC by the German Federal Criminal Police Office shows the substantial amounts at play and potentially the significant actions being taken against digital crime.
