tl;dr
The German government has transferred 700 Bitcoins, despite a plea from a member of the German parliament to stop selling its remaining Bitcoin holdings. The government has already sold $819 million worth of Bitcoin and still holds approximately $2.3 billion worth. Germany's Bitcoin fortune came fro...
German government transfers 700 Bitcoins despite calls to stop, continuing massive selling spree
Germany's $2.3 billion Bitcoin fortune comes from confiscated 50,000 Bitcoins linked to pirated media website Movie2k.to
The German government has transferred 700 Bitcoins, despite a plea from a member of the German parliament to stop selling its remaining Bitcoin holdings. The government has already sold $819 million worth of Bitcoin and still holds approximately $2.3 billion worth. Germany's Bitcoin fortune came from Movie2k.to, a website that aggregated pirated media content and was shut down in 2013, resulting in the confiscation of 50,000 Bitcoins from one of the operators. The German government has made waves in the cryptocurrency market with yet another massive transfer.
According to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, it transferred another 700 Bitcoins just hours ago. The recent transfer comes after Joana Cotar, an independent member of the German parliament, urged the government to stop liquidating the remaining Bitcoin holdings. The cryptocurrency-friendly politician argued that the largest coin could potentially serve as an inflation hedge while also promoting economic sovereignty and innovation.
Her arguments, however, evidently fell on deaf ears given that the German government continues its massive selling spree. Lookonchain has estimated that the German government has already transferred a whopping $819 million worth of Bitcoin. It continues to hold roughly $2.3 billion worth of Bitcoin, meaning that the battered cryptocurrency market could still face a lot of selling pressure.
WHERE DOES GERMANY'S BITCOIN FORTUNE COME FROM?
Germany's Bitcoin fortune came from Movie2k.to. The website would aggregate pirated media content, including popular movies and TV series, that were available on the internet. Instead of hosting this content, it merely provided its users with a search feature.
At the peak of its popularity, Movie2k.to became one of the most popular websites in Germany, even surpassing social media giant Twitter. However, it was shut down in May 2013 following a multi-year effort by major movie studios to shut it down. The German authorities ended up confiscating 50,000 Bitcoins from one of the operators of the infamous website.