Bitcoin Nears Germany’s 2024 Sell Price — Buy Back?

Bitcoin is trading less than $3,000 above the roughly $57,900 average price at which Germany sold 49,858 seized bitcoin between June 19 and July 12, 2024. The disposals produced about $2.89 billion in proceeds.

The coins were seized in connection with the operator of the piracy site movie2k. Under German law, seized assets must be sold promptly; authorities carried out the sales over a three-week period and reported removing the holdings from state wallets after the disposals.

In the months after the sales, bitcoin rose toward about $125,000, leading to criticism that the government had missed large gains. Since that peak, the price has fallen and moved back toward the level where the government exited the market.

With the market now close to Germany’s average sale price, some observers have questioned the earlier characterization of the sales as a multibillion-dollar error. Others have reiterated that the timing reflected a rapid liquidation under legal requirements.

The episode has prompted debate in Germany about how seized digital assets should be handled. A member of the German parliament criticized the 2024 sales and called for a reassessment of rules on confiscated crypto holdings.

Any effort by Berlin to repurchase the 49,858 coins would face legal and political barriers. German statutes require prompt sale of seized property; amending that framework would be necessary for the state to hold seized cryptocurrency as a reserve. Officials have not indicated an intention to buy bitcoin.

Acquiring the full amount at current prices would require several billion dollars and would reverse the government’s 2024 policy. For now, the narrowing price gap has renewed public and parliamentary discussion but has not produced a change in government practice.