MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor took to X, posting in German to urge against selling the leading cryptocurrency.
The post followed reports that Germany’s criminal police and public prosecutor’s office had sold all 49,860 BTC, valued at approximately $2.9 billion, seized from the pirate portal Movie2k in January.
The assets, seized by Saxony’s police authority, were held in a wallet by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
Regional legislation mandates the liquidation of seized funds within a certain period. Lennart Ante, co-founder and CEO of Blockchain Research Lab, attributed the bitcoin sales by authorities, which began with small amounts on June 19, to this requirement.
JAN3 CEO Samson Mow also commented on the sale of the confiscated cryptocurrency. He noted that Germany “had no choice but to dispose of 50,000 BTC.”
“However, this October we should put together a concrete plan for Germany to re-acquire at least 50,000 BTC as part of a national Bitcoin adoption strategy,” he added.
German Bundestag member Joana Cotar expressed doubts about the urgency of selling the assets from BKA wallets. She believes the regulatory requirement to liquidate seized funds is due to potential value depreciation risks, which “were not present” in this case.
“Perhaps so. But now [those bitcoins] are gone, and we need a plan to buy them back,” Mow replied.
Bloomberg linked the German authorities’ liquidation of digital gold to the drop in prices below the psychological support of $60,000 in early July.
