Weekend wrap: Germany moves $80M more BTC, Vitalik donates 100 ETH and more

Germany shifts another 1,400 BTC

The German government has transferred another 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC $55,586) — worth $80 million at current prices — in its latest string of Bitcoin movements.

On July 6, a wallet address associated with the German government transferred 700 BTC to an unknown wallet address. A day later, on July 7, the same address moved an additional 700 BTC to the same address.

The German government transferred 1,400 BTC over the weekend. Source: Arkham Intelligence

The wallet now holds a total of 1,400 BTC, according to data from the blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.

Data shows that this marks the 14th major movement from the government-linked BTC address to external wallets in the last week.

Even with the recent spate of transfers, the German government still holds a whopping 39,800 BTC (worth $2.2 billion) in reserve.

On July 5, German lawmaker and Bitcoin activist Joana Cotar urged the government to stop its “hasty” Bitcoin selling spree and maintain its Bitcoin holdings as a “strategic reserve currency” to shield against risks in the traditional system.

Vitalik donates 100 ETH to “make Ethereum great again”

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also made some transfers of his own over the weekend.

On July 6, Buterin transferred 100 Ether (ETH $2,909) to a Gnosis Safesmart contract, per Akhram Intelligence data.

The transaction was later confirmed to be a donation to the Ethereum marketing studio Collective 2077.

Describing itself as Ethereum’s unofficial marketing studio, Collective 2077 is a group of researchers, developers, and marketers whose stated aim is to “make Ethereum great again.”

In a July 6 post to X, the official account for Collective 2077 thanked Buterin for his donation, saying the funds would go toward its efforts to “improve Ethereum’s presence and appeal through innovative initiatives and community-driven efforts.”

Source: Collective 2077

Messari CEO goes off on SEC in scathing draft letter

Ryan Selkis, the CEO and founder of crypto intelligence firm Messari, is declaring himself an enemy of the SEC in a draft letter to the United States Congress.

Posting a draft version of the letter to X on July 6 — which has yet to be sent — Selkis said he has “declared independence” from the SEC, adding his firm would be “operationalizing a war against this illegitimate and corrupt agency” in the coming months.

In the letter, Selkis slammed SEC Chair Gary Gensler as corrupt and incompetent, arguing that the SEC has “no legitimate claim” to regulate crypto markets, and attacked the regulator for guaranteeing continued losses for U.S.-based crypto firms.

Selkis slammed Gensler and the SEC in a draft letter. Source: Ryan Selkis

He said the draft version of the letter would be “polished” and sent to Congress sometime in the coming weeks.

Inferno drainer sends $880K to Railgun

Notorious crypto wallet drainer group Inferno Drainer has made its first major transfer in several months, sending 303 ETH to the Ethereum privacy protocol Railgun on July 7.

In a July 7 post to X, crypto analytics service MistTrack pointed to a recent transfer from a wallet associated with the drainer.

According to MistTrack, the drainer group transferred 303 ETH — worth $880,000 at current prices — to Railgun, a privacy-preserving protocol that prevents blockchain transfers from being easily traced.

Source: MistTrack

Inferno Drainer last made a series of transfers on May 18, sending a total of 200 ETH — worth $618,000 at the time — to the CoW protocol, a suite of Ethereum-based products including a decentralized exchange aggregator and automated market maker.

According to data from ScamSniffer on Dune Analytics, Inferno Drainer has managed to steal more than $180 million in crypto from over 189,000 victims since its inception in August 2023.

Inferno Drainer has co-opted more than $196 million since August 2023. Source: Dune Analytics