Germany: the government transfers $425 million in Bitcoin from an address identified by Arkham

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In Germany, according to Arkham’s data, it appears that the government has transferred 425 million dollars in Bitcoin. The transactions see part of the sum sent to other crypto-exchange addresses and the other part sent to the original wallet address. 

Germany: Arkham identifies transactions for $425 million in Bitcoin by the government 

In Germany, it seems that a government agency has transferred $425 million in Bitcoin. Specifically, the sum was transferred to another wallet, returning part of it to the original wallet and sending part of it to the wallets of two crypto-exchanges.

According to the blockchain analysis platform, Arkham, the address has been identified as belonging to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The BKA had previously seized nearly 50,000 BTC from a piracy site. 

The data shows BTC transactions totaling 64 million dollars, sent to Kraken and Bitstamp, indicating that there is an intention to sell. 

Another 6,500 BTC were, instead, moved from the wallet address belonging to the BKA to the address “bc1q0unygz3ddt8x0v33s6ztxkrnw0s0tl7zk4yxwd”, and then back to itself.

Germany: Bitcoin transactions by the government and Arkham’s identification

The address identified by Arkham as BKA or the German Federal Criminal Police Office refers to the story of the incredible seizure of Bitcoin in Germany.

In practice, in January 2024, the German authorities managed to confiscate as many as 50,000 Bitcoin linked to a piracy site.

This is the equivalent at that moment of about 2 billion euros that ended up in the digital wallet of the police, with the suspects who carried out the transaction seemingly voluntarily.  

Obviously, precisely because of the record sum, this remains at the moment the largest seizure of cryptocurrency in the history of Germany. 

Specifically, the confiscated BTC were linked to two individuals, one German and one Polish, accused of running a piracy site until 2013. Not only that, the German authorities believe that the Bitcoin were purchased with the proceeds from the distribution of pirated material through their site. 

The revelation about the crypto addresses of Tesla and SpaceX 

Last March 2024, Arkham Intelligence had instead announced that it had identified the crypto addresses of the companies Tesla and SpaceX, containing almost 20,000 Bitcoin.

Specifically, the exact figure at that moment was 19,794 BTC for a market value of over 1.3 billion dollars at that time. 

It concerns as many as 68 addresses that would refer to Tesla, while another 28 addresses to SpaceX. 

Arkham confirmed that the on-chain data matched the financial statements of the two Elon Musk companies.