billions in BTC for sale in the USA?

It is official: the government of the USA has been authorized to sell more than 69,000 BTC. 

The total value of those Bitcoin far exceeds six billion dollars. 

The sale of Bitcoin (BTC) by the USA government

The sale was authorized at the end of December by a ruling by Judge Richard Seeborg, but it was only reported yesterday.

This ruling does nothing but remove any obstacle to the possible sale, but it does not mandate it. 

The decision instead rests with the current owners of those 69,370 BTC (Bitcoin), namely the Department of Justice of the US government.

As far as is known, such a decision has not yet been made, also because there is another issue at stake. 

The Strategic Reserve in Bitcoin

Those 69,370 BTC come from a seizure against a person involved in the Silk Road case. 

In reality, it currently appears that the Bitcoins in possession of the DoJ (Department of Justice) total 198,000, originating from multiple seizures. 

According to what Donald Trump stated during the election campaign, the intention would be not to sell them, but to include them within a new national strategic reserve. 

However, Trump will take office only on January 20, which is in two Mondays, and the Biden administration does not agree on this point. In fact, already at the beginning of December, almost a month after Trump’s victory, the Biden administration sold about 10,000 BTC in possession of the DoJ. 

So on one side, there is still the current administration ready to sell those Bitcoins now that it has effectively been authorized by the court, while on the other side, time is running out before the new Trump administration takes office. 

A spokesperson for the current administration stated that they intend to proceed with the sale, but it will be necessary to see if they manage to proceed in time. 

The impact on the price of BTC

The price of Bitcoin has been decreasing for a few days. 

The Dollar Index, which is very high and further increasing, makes a rebound in the short term highly unlikely. 

When in August of last year a similar sale was carried out by the German government, the price of Bitcoin experienced a drop, but only momentary. 

Although it is not yet certain that the Biden administration will be able to proceed with the sale, if it were to happen, it is plausible to imagine that this could have a negative impact on the price. 

However, at this historical moment, the selling pressure of BTC on the crypto markets is low, therefore the blow could also be somehow absorbed, even if perhaps only partially.

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that such a sale could drag on, and this could also prevent it from having negative impacts in the medium term. 

The trend of the price of Bitcoin (BTC)

The market sentiment currently seems to be clearly pessimistic in the short or medium-short term, but there are no clear signals that it is also in the medium term. 

Within a bullrun, like the one that started in November, it is not at all strange for there to be moments of correction, or even retracement. 

In other terms, it would not be strange at all if indeed the price of Bitcoin during this month of January ended up falling further, perhaps even below $90,000 or even below $80,000. 

It should not be forgotten that Bitcoin is a volatile asset, so these things inevitably happen from time to time.

However, the discussion changes if we extend to analyze the possible trend in February, or perhaps even in March and April. In this case, in fact, the possibilities of further declines seem to reduce significantly, and it even becomes possible to imagine a rebound, at least in theory. 

The Bitcoin spot ETFs

Certifying the pessimism in the short term are the strong outflows from ETFs. 

Yesterday, one of the largest daily overall outflows occurred since they landed on the markets a year ago, with nearly 570 million dollars lost in a single day. 

However, in the previous days, there were also two days of almost record inflows, exceeding 900 million per day. 

This inconcreteness has been ongoing since December 18, that is, from the day following the new all-time high, when the realignment of the markets to the Fed’s rate cut plan modification changed the climate. 

The fact that for now the negative indications coming from ETFs are still few suggests that the sentiment is actually not that negative, at least for now, even if in the coming days from this point of view the situation could theoretically worsen. 

It should still be remembered that those who operate in the crypto markets must get used to similar situations, because they are the norm and not the exception.