German government's bitcoin selloff nets $2.9 billion as film piracy case marches on

German authorities announced on Wednesday that the sale of nearly 50,000 bitcoins had generated $2.88 billion.

In a statement, German authorities said it had managed a coordinated "sale of approximately 49,858 Bitcoins between June 19, 2024 and July 12, 2024 with the support of the Federal Criminal Police Office."

The authorities officially said they netted 2.6 billion euros from the sale.

Germany's efforts to offload thousands of bitcoin grabbed headlines in recent weeks with Arkham Intelligence regularly tracking a wallet associated with the European nation. The sale was part of the plan to offload bitcoins seized from the now-defunct film piracy website Movie2K.

Last Friday, it appeared Germany's crypto wallet had reached a balance of zero.

Although the Movie2K case has not been concluded, German authorities said it was compelled to sell the 50,000 bitcoins.

"The sale of valuable items before the conclusion of ongoing criminal proceedings is always legally required when there is a risk of a significant loss in value of around ten percent or more," the authorities said in their statement on Wednesday.

The European nation relied on various exchanges to help with the sale of the bitcoin including Bitstamp, Kraken and Coinbase.