Exchanges send $163 million worth of bitcoin back to German government

After the German government transferred more than 10,000 bitcoin to exchanges and market makers early Monday, the country's authorities received nearly 3,000 BTC back later in the day. 

As of 4:15 p.m. EST, Germany had received 2,898 bitcoin, or about $163 million, primarily from Coinbase, Kraken and Bitstamp, according to Arkham Intelligence data .

The exchanges most likely sent the bitcoin back to Germany after they could not sell them within a targeted price range, according to The Block's Research Director Steven Zheng.

"Considering some bitcoin were sent back to the German government from Coinbase, one can assume they were unsold bitcoin as part of a sale agreement between the crypto exchange and the country," Zheng said.

BTC's price hit about $55,200 early Monday afternoon before rebounding to roughly $55,400 as of 4:27 p.m. EST, according to The Block Price Page .

Germany's major crypto transfers on Monday included 5,200 bitcoin sent to market maker Flow Traders, 4,200 of the token to the B2C2 Group, 2,350 BTC to Bitstamp, 2,050 to Coinbase and 1,250 bitcoin to crypto exchange Kraken, according to Arkham.

The German government holds more than $2 billion worth of bitcoin, Arkham has also stated.