The U.K., which stands among the largest Bitcoin holders worldwide, could now dump its BTC stash over its plans to rebuild Britain. Following Germany’s move to sell around $3 billion worth of Bitcoin in a three-week selling spree, expectations of the U.K. triggering a new sell-off raise fears of new downtrends across the crypto market.
U.K. could sell Bitcoin to support its economic agenda
The U.K. economy has slipped into a recession in the last year, representing consistent drops in the country’s GDP. Meanwhile, Rachel Jane Reeves takes charge as a new chancellor of the Exchequer, who plans to rebuild Britain with its new economic agenda. Therefore, Reeves could liquidate the government’s BTC stash to fund its economic plans, eliminating the need to raise taxes.
A senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, Merryn Somerset Webb, initially opined in a recent article that Reeve could sell the U.K.’s Bitcoin stash considering challenging economic inheritance. She noted in a statement;
Meeting her goal to “rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off” won’t be cheap. But there’s a pile of cash conveniently available that won’t involve raising taxes — Britain’s Bitcoin holdings,
Bloomberg further affirmed that the U.K. currently holds around 61,242 Bitcoin, which is $5 billion or £3.9 billion. Government officials confiscated these assets via legal action, mainly the money laundering case against Jian Wen. The state public agency Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) froze around $2 billion (in line with the price at the time of seizure) of crypto assets from Wen in March 2024.
Selling the U.K.’s BTC stockpile could undoubtedly provide Reeves with funds to support her economic plans. However, as Germany did, this initiative could result in unpleasant conditions for the crypto market. Germany’s transfer of around 50,000 Bitcoin contributed to a 15% price decline. Similarly, the sell-off could decrease the price of Bitcoin, which also navigates the price of the broader crypto market as the flagship coin.
However, according to Bitcoin Treasury, government agencies worldwide, including the U.K.’s BTC collection, currently hold $31 billion worth of Bitcoin. It highlights the Government’s involvement with the crypto market’s prices at any time.
