Germany Still Holds $1.5B in Bitcoin After Surge of Exchange Transfers

In the film Die Hard, East German criminal mastermind Hans Gruber took over Nakatomi Plaza in a plot to steal over half a billion dollars in bearer bonds — worth $1.7 billion in today’s money.

Now, three and a half decades later, Germany is back, holding all of our attention hostage while it liquidates billions in bitcoin.

The bitcoin was seized earlier this year from the operator of Movie2k, the defunct piracy portal that shut down in 2013. Nearly 50,000 BTC was assumed by Germany, a $2.86 billion haul at current prices, $2.15 billion when reports first broke and reportedly around $25 million when Movie2k was at its height.

Overall, Germany has sent over $2 billion in bitcoin to trading platforms since June 16, per Arkham Intelligence data, including unidentified addresses assumed to be OTC desks.

Earlier this morning, addresses linked to the Bundesregierung altogether transferred 6,306 BTC ($361.3 million) to Kraken’s exchange, market maker Cumberland DRW and two other entities that appear to be connected to over-the-counter trading desks or other similar platforms.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the same addresses directed an eye-watering 16,038 BTC ($920 million) to Kraken, Cumberland DRW and other trading venues including Bitstamp, Flow Traders and Coinbase. 

The simplest explanation for those transfers is that the government is selling the seized bitcoin, as the US government does from time to time. 

But Germany’s wallets have also received bitcoin back from the trading platforms, totaling $508.6 million, valued at each time of transfer.