A crypto wallet linked to the German government moved more than 3,000 bitcoins worth more than $172 million to three crypto exchanges and one wallet.

On July 4, blockchain analyst PeckShieldAlert revealed a significant outbound transfer of 1,300 bitcoins
BTC ticker down to $56,441 from a “German Government (BKA)” labeled cryptocurrency wallet. Bitcoin transfers worth $75 million were spread across three major crypto exchanges: Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp.

The first 1,300 BTC were transferred to centralized crypto exchanges, while the remaining 1,700 were transferred to a separate crypto wallet, according to data from Arkham Intelligence, an onchain analytics platform

Since February 2024, the German government-labeled wallet has held 50,000 BTC and has transferred away a major chunk of its holdings over the past few months.

Germany, as well as governments worldwide, have confiscated Bitcoin and other digital assets linked to criminal activities, and they hold occasional auctions to sell their confiscated crypto holdings.

The United States government has already sold a significant chunk of the Bitcoin linked to the infamous dark web marketplace Silk Road. Tim Draper, an American businessman and Bitcoin advocate, bought 29,656 BTC from the Silk Road haul in 2014 at an auction organized by U.S. marshals.