German Government Loses Billions Selling Bitcoin Before Record High

• Billion-dollar loss: Germany loses US$2,35 billion with advance sale.
• Market exceeds expectations: Bitcoin surpasses US$ 100.000.
• Management Challenges: Timing of cryptocurrency sales impacts results.

In mid-2024, the German government conducted a sale of approximately 50.000 Bitcoins, raising approximately $2,88 billion. The digital assets were confiscated as part of investigations into the piracy website Movie2k.to. The sale took place between June 19 and July 12, with an average price of $57.600 per unit, a decision based on legal requirements to prevent depreciation during lengthy criminal proceedings.

🇩🇪 German government sold 50,000 # Bitcoin at $ 55,000

– Bitcoin is up 85% since then.

Missed out on a cool $2.35 BILLION profit… pic.twitter.com/uzIf9gTQTY

—Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) December 5, 2024

Since the transaction, the cryptocurrency market has seen a dramatic rise, with Bitcoin recently surpassing the all-time high of $100.000 per coin. Had the German government held on to the Bitcoins, the total value would have been over $5,23 billion. This represents a loss of potential profit of approximately $2,35 billion, highlighting the difficulty of predicting the movements of the cryptocurrency market, which is characterized by high volatility and rapid appreciation.

In addition to the German case, other governments have faced significant losses due to similar decisions. In the United States, for example, more than 195.000 Bitcoins were auctioned between 2014 and 2024, generating revenue of around US$366 million. At current prices, this amount of cryptocurrencies would reach approximately US$19,5 billion, representing an opportunity loss of US$19,1 billion.

Recent movements of large amounts of Bitcoin by authorities have also had an impact on the market. In November 2024, the US government transferred more than US$2 billion in Bitcoin to third-party wallets, a move that caused momentary drops in the price and alerted investors about possible future auctions.

At the time of publication, the price of Bitcoin was quoted at US$100.347, up 4.3% in the last 24 hours.

These incidents illustrate the challenges governments face when dealing with seized cryptocurrencies. While the disposal of these assets is often necessary for legal reasons, such as money laundering or fraud prosecutions, the timing of sales can have a direct impact on profitability, especially in a volatile market like crypto.