German Federal Criminal Police Office BKA Appears to Move $425M of BTC Including to Crypto Exchanges

A German government agency appears to have transferred $425 million in bitcoin to another wallet, returning some to the original wallet and sending a portion to crypto exchange deposit wallets.
Transactional data shows deposits worth $32 million each to Kraken and Bitstamp, which may indicate intentions to sell.

A German government agency today moved $425 million in bitcoin (BTC) to another wallet address, Arkham data appears to show, sending some on to crypto exchange deposit wallets and returning some to the starting point.

The wallet address, previously identified as belonging to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) by Arkham, moved 6,500 BTC to the address “bc1q0unygz3ddt8x0v33s6ztxkrnw0s0tl7zk4yxwd” and then back to itself. Transactional data shows that a tranche of $32 million worth of bitcoin was deposited on crypto exchange Kraken and a similar amount on Bitstamp.

German entity moved millions worth of bitcoin across wallets and crypto exchanges on Wednesday. (Arkham)

Arkham CEO Miguel More told CoinDesk over Telegram that the entity appeared to have moved $130 million in BTC to “service wallets,” which generally indicates an “intention to sell in the near future.”

Mantle blockchain strategist @Defi_Maestro flagged the movements on X earlier.

BKA seized almost 50,000 BTC, worth over $2 billion at the time, from the operators of Movie2k.to, a film piracy website that was active in 2013. The BKA received the bitcoin in mid-January after a "voluntary transfer" from the suspects, according to Arkham.

Edited by Sheldon Reback.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

German Government Agency Moves $425M Bitcoin, Some to Crypto Exchanges

Arkham previously identified the address as belonging to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which had seized almost 50,000 BTC from a piracy site.