Why The Price Of Bitcoin Is Down Today
Anyone who invests in cryptocurrency knows by now that the value of a digital, decentralized coin is subject to constant fluctuations, both big and small. Sometimes, a Bitcoin crash will be affected by an influx of new investors or troubles with major trading websites, while other times it may be because of government regulations or other direct involvement by authorities. For example, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin all saw price drops after Chinese officials cracked down on crypto mining operations in 2021.
Today's Bitcoin price drop is also directly tied to a major world government, but this time it's because that government is selling a lot of the coin it possesses. That government is Germany, which came into ownership of almost 50,000 bitcoin after Saxony police seized them from the operators of the illegal movie piracy site, Movie2k.to. At the time, that very large amount of bitcoin equated to roughly $2.2 billion.
Germany doesn't seem to be interested in retaining the seized bitcoin and has been selling it off for the past several weeks, using several major exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase. In June, the government sold 900 bitcoins, followed by an additional 3,000 last week. Just yesterday, it sold another 2,739 bitcoins. Altogether, that equates to a current value of $379 million. Such a massive selloff in such a short amount of time has greatly contributed to the recent drop in the token's price, which is currently the lowest it's been in months.
Bitcoin's value hasn't been this low since February
As of Tuesday afternoon, the price of Bitcoin was hovering around $57,700, and has even been a few thousand dollars lower than that in the last week. This is the lowest price attributed to crypto's most famous token since February 2024, so it's easy to see why many investors are currently shaken. It also isn't helping that other factors appear to be contributing to Bitcoin's current woes, including a massive payout from failed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox that is worth billions of dollars.
Of course, even with the recent price drop, Bitcoin investors likely don't need to freak out just yet, as big price changes are par for the course with cryptocurrency. The token, along with most cryptocurrencies, notoriously fell in value in 2022 and 2023 before rebounding. On March 15, 2024, just weeks after being around the price it's currently stuck at right now, Bitcoin even hit an all-time high of $73,844.
While the price of Bitcoin is currently down compared to a few months ago, it is still up 91% over the last year, and worth over 400% more than it was five years ago. Even as Germany sells off its supply, there are nearly 20 million bitcoins currently in circulation that are worth over a trillion dollars, and the token is likely to continue to grow in value over the long term (for now).
Some German officials think the government should hold onto the Bitcoin
That's exactly why some German politicians think it's a mistake to sell the seized bitcoin when it could be holding onto it for a rainy day — or even for making an eventual profit. German parliament member Joana Cotar publicly stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she believed the government should hold onto the thousands of bitcoins as a "strategic reserve currency." She has even addressed the country's Finance Minister Christian Lindner, as well as Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz, and told them that selling the token was "not only not sensible, but counterproductive."
Cotar may have a point. While predicting financial markets — whether it's stock exchanges or cryptocurrency — is impossible, many analysts have reason to believe that Bitcoin's value will continue to grow over time, even if they don't all agree on how much. Coinpedia currently predicts Bitcoin to be worth $95,903 in 2025, with a potential high of $140,449. Looking further out, that predicted value increases to be $312,767 in 2030, with a potential high of $347,783.
If the latter turned out to be the actual value of Bitcoin by the end of the decade, the 50,000 bitcoins Germany seized and is currently getting rid of would be worth a hefty $17.4 billion or so. For now, though, expect Bitcoin's price to struggle as the fallout from Germany's selloff continues.