Bitcoin dropped 3.5% on Friday morning. This time we know who to blame. The decline follows Germany's sale of $195 million worth of Bitcoin the previous day.
The cryptocurrency's price fell to around $64,700. It lost nearly 1.2% in the last hour alone.
Of course, this continues a downward trend. We've been anxiously watching Bitcoin declining nearly 9% over the past two weeks. So Germans just put another nail into that coffin. Their Bitcoin sales are likely contributing to the volatility.
Germany recently began selling Bitcoin seized from a movie piracy website in 2020. At that time German authorities confiscated 50,000 BTC in January. This was described as Germany's largest-ever seizure of Bitcoin by law enforcement.
The country has sold $325 million worth of Bitcoin in 48 hours. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham reported this on Twitter.
Robert Quartly-Janeiro of crypto exchange Bitrue commented on the situation. "The German government is releasing significant tranches of BTC," he told Decrypt. He noted the government expects Bitcoin's price to soften further.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $73,797 in March. It then fell to $56,527 in May before recovering.
The recent decline isn't solely due to Germany's actions. Major indices like the S&P 500 have also slumped amid negative market sentiment.
Earlier attempts to push Bitcoin's price towards $66,000 failed. This led to significant liquidations of long positions. In the past 24 hours, total liquidations reached about $150 million. Long positions accounted for 73% of these.