Bitcoin Bounces Above $59,000 as Fears on Germany’s Sales Fade

The crypto market witnessed a revival late Tuesday evening, regaining some ground lost during the U.S.’s 4th of July celebrations.

Bitcoin rose 5%, reaching as high as $59,300 before retracing slightly. The asset is trading at $59,000, CoinGecko data shows.

Market participants continue to divine the impact stemming from the eventual sale of Bitcoin from Mt. Gox and the ongoing transfers from the German government to exchanges and market makers.

Liquidations across the market jumped to $100 million, a small sum compared to the $600 million wiped out last week after Bitcoin fell to its lowest point since February, near $54,000.

It comes as U.S. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds scooped up $438 million in recent days, marking their total asset value at $49.3 billion.

The total value exchanged in U.S. Bitcoin ETFs on July 5 and July 8, which amounted to $2.18 billion and $1.98 billion, respectively, represents the highest trading volumes since June 25.

While initial concerns had forecast ongoing sell pressure from Mt. Gox and Germany, experts Decrypt spoke to said those concerns are “overblown.”

In short order, the German government transferred some $900 million worth of the asset on Monday. That was met by a further $362 million worth of Bitcoin being transferred to Kraken and crypto trading desks on Tuesday.

Still, the worst of Germany’s selling appears to be “in the rear-view mirror,” Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital, told Decrypt.

To date, Germany’s government has transferred roughly two-thirds of its seized Bitcoin holdings with a little over $1.6 billion remaining, a dashboard by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence shows.

Transferring funds to exchanges and market makers doesn’t necessarily mean Germany’s assets have already been sold, but it does hint at a probable intention to liquidate them.

The bankruptcy estate belonging to defunct crypto exchange FTX is also set to distribute approximately $16 billion in cash to crypto investors around September or October this year, McMillin added.

Since that selling has already occurred, the cash distribution is expected to act as a “significant bullish catalyst” in the coming months, he said.