A significant sell-down of BTC by the German government has rattled the market for the cryptocurrency, CNBC reports, adding new selling pressure as traders brace for the continued release of even more supply to creditors of defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox.

What’s happening? Police in the state of Saxony seized nearly 50k BTC (about USD 2.2 bn worth) back in January. Even after a series of recent sales from that position, it still holds nearly 32.5k BTC that’s worth about USD 1.9 bn at current prices. The government looks to be exiting that position in chunks — it’s sold positions worth USD 379 mn or so, with most of that hitting the market in last two weeks.

It’s a crypto bear… The sales and, in parallel, transfer of German state BTC reserves to other exchanges has helped push the price of BTC to below USD 55k on Friday to mark its lowest level since February. Together with the Mt. Gox transfers, which blockchain data suggests began last week, new supply has helped send BTC down 20% from a month ago.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed in early trading this morning, with the ASX 200 and Nikkei, the Kospi and Hang in the red, and the Shanghai Composite largely unchanged. Nasdaq, Dow, and S&P futures were all up in overnight trading after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at fresh highs again yesterday.

Futures point to a mixed open for major European benchmarks, with the Euro Stoxx 50, Germany’s Dax 30, and France’s CAC 40 all on track to open in the red while the FTSE 100 looking set to start the day in the green.

ADX

9,133

-0.1% (YTD: -4.7%)

DFM

4,082

+0.3% (YTD: +0.6%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,501

+0.3% (YTD: -8.9%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.0% o/n

5.3% 1 yr

TASI

11,718

+0.3% (YTD: -2.1%)

EGX30

28,412

-0.7% (YTD: +14.1%)

S&P 500

5,573

+0.1% (YTD: +16.8%)

FTSE 100

8,193

-0.1% (YTD: +6.0%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,970

-0.2% (YTD: +9.9%)

Brent crude

USD 85.75

-0.9%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.38

+0.5%

Gold

USD 2,363.50

-1.4%

BTC

USD 56,348.50

-1.7% (YTD: +33.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.1% yesterday on turnover of AED 824.9 mn. The index is down 4.7% YTD.

In the green: Sharjah Cement and Industrial Development (+10.3%), Agthia Group (+7.1%) and Presight AI Holding (+5.3%).

In the red: National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain (-9.5%), Rapco Investment (-8.0%) and EasyLease Motorcycle Rental (-5.3%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 0.3% on turnover of AED 252 mn. Meanwhile Nasdaq Dubai also closed up 0.3%.

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