Key Takeaways
- The German authorities have faced a $3 billion loss in potential profits by selling their Bitcoin holdings too early.
- Similar past US government Bitcoin sales have resulted in missed profits, as holdings auctioned for $366 million would now be worth over $23 billion.
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Germany missed out on an estimated $3 billion in profits after offloading nearly 50,000 Bitcoin last July at $57,900 each, as the digital asset now trades above $120,000, according to TradingView data.
The sale of 49,858 Bitcoin, conducted between June 19 and July 12 by the Saxon Central Office for the Custody and Utilization of Virtual Currencies at the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office, in cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Frankfurt-based Bankhaus Scheich Wertpapierspezialist AG, generated about $2.8 billion from assets seized in the “Movie2k” criminal case.
At today’s market prices, the same holdings would be valued at approximately $6 billion.
Bitcoin surged over 10% this week to reach a new all-time high of above $121,000 on Sunday. At the time of reporting, Bitcoin changed hands at around $120,700, TradingView data shows.
The US government has seen similar missed gains. Over the past decade, it auctioned off more than 195,000 Bitcoin for $366 million. As tracked by Casa CSO Jameson Lopp, that same Bitcoin stash would now be valued at over $23 billion.
The US government currently holds over 198,000 BTC worth nearly $24 billion, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.
[01:58 AM July 14: Corrects title and first paragraph to clarify the entities behind the sales.]
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