$6 Billion: Bitcoin Community Laughs at Germany

As Bitcoin recently hit a new all-time high, View post on X (formerly Twitter) sparked ridicule toward the German authorities.

As Bitcoin recently hit a new all-time high, View post on X it drew ridicule on X (formerly Twitter) toward the German authorities. The reason? Germany sold last year 50,000 BTC – at a price of only $54,000 each. Today that same Bitcoin would have been worth almost $6 billion.

The financial platform site View post on Xput it bluntly: “Germany left $3 billion in profits on the table.” Another user was less subtle: “Germany stays poor forever.”

The sale took place back then in the state of Saxony, where authorities had seized the Bitcoins. But contrary to what critics imply, German authorities had no legal choice. Under German criminal procedure law, seized assets must be sold. Keeping them is simply not allowed.

In the U.S., they’ve taken a different approach since Trump. Soon after taking office, he issued an Executive Order transferring seized crypto assets into state ownership, as part of a national Bitcoin reserve.

Such a plan is not on Germany’s agenda for now, and that gap is starting to cost more and more.