The cryptocurrency market stabilizes as Germany completes its bitcoin sell-off, easing concerns among investors.
On Friday afternoon, the German government completed its initiative to liquidate billions of dollars' worth of assets seized from criminals in its bitcoin wallets, leaving the wallets devoid of any digital assets, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
During the past month, the crypto community became highly concerned that the German government's extensive sell-offs from its wallets could lead to a decline in the price of bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency.
Contrary to expectations, bitcoin's price increased by 3%. As of the latest update, bitcoin is now trading above $58,000, marking a 1% rise in the past 24 hours.
In June, the German government held nearly $3.4 billion worth of bitcoin in its wallets, which it has since been actively liquidating. Earlier this month, the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany, known as the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), sold off $2.8 billion worth of bitcoin, equivalent to 50,000 bitcoin.
The government sent funds to prominent cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. and Europe, such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, and Kraken.
Observers monitoring the German government's sell-off closely followed the bitcoin wallet transfers. They observed that some transfers were returned to the government's wallet addresses, suggesting that the BKA was assessing liquidity before proceeding with the asset sale.
On Thursday, the crypto "Fear and Greed" index dropped to "extreme fear" following the German government's transfers. However, concerns eased swiftly once the sell-offs concluded. Interestingly, some analysts view heightened investor anxiety as potential opportunities to purchase bitcoin at advantageous prices.
"A CryptoQuant analyst highlighted that one of the most effective indicators for identifying favorable entry points during a bull market is when short-term bitcoin holders sell at a loss amidst excessively high fear indices, as observed in recent weeks. They contrasted this with previous market peaks, where long-term holders steadily realized substantial profits over several months, a trend not yet seen."