Bitcoin prices have risen in anticipation of US regulatory approval of exchange traded funds
Bitcoin has been battling to escape the red line in recent weeks due to sell-offs and dumps, but some industry experts believe it's finally put the sell-off period behind it. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • VanEck's Matthew Sigel said the 'forced selling' season is now 'behind' Bitcoin
  • BitVaulty's CEO said gold's spike is indicative of Bitcoin's upward movement
  • The German and U.S. government's sell-offs and MtGox payouts hit $BTC prices in the past weeks

Bitcoin has been struggling in recent weeks following massive sell-offs by the German government that triggered a ripple effect among other long-term $BTC holders. However, an industry expert believes the huge dumps are now "behind us," and the buying season is kicking off again.

The 'forced' sellers

In a Monday interview with CNBC's Fast Money, VanEck's Head of Digital Assets Research, Matthew Sigel, was asked why $BTC, the world's top cryptocurrency by market cap, has been struggling with growth.

He said one of the major reasons is the emergence of "forced" sellers, the first being the German government, and the U.S. government more recently. Both powers have sold off massive amounts of their seized Bitcoins, with Germany dumping all of its multi-billion-dollar stash.

The German government started dumping its $3 billion worth of $BTC in June – a sell-off spree that lasted for several weeks. The U.S. government, on the other hand, started selling millions worth of Bitcoin last month.

The payouts

Aside from huge sellers that ultimately affected Bitcoin prices, there are also the companies that had to pay off customers, namely former $BTC exchange giant MtGox, and defunct crypto lender Genesis. Sigel noted that news about the payouts has also affected Bitcoin's price downtrend.

MtGox has the bigger chunk of the load since it has to repay $9 billion to its account holders by October, while Genesis is expected to return some $3 billion in cash and crypto to its customers.

The end of the sell-off?

"With all this forced selling behind us...we're buyers here. We think it recovers," Sigel said of the headwinds that hit $BTC in recent months.

Notably, VanEck is a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer, and it has filed to issue the United States' first Solana ($SOL) ETF. Unlike BlackRock's $IBIT, VanEck's $VBTC has yet to be very popular among investors, but it seems the investment management firm sees Bitcoin's long-term viability.

Sigel isn't the only expert who believes $BTC recovery is in sight. BitVaulty CEO Francesco Madonna said in a series of X posts Saturday that a "pattern is forming" now that global liquidity has started to rise. He noted that such a pattern has repeated over the last decade, "with gold often being a leading indicator of liquidity changes."

Gold has been on a notable rise in the past few weeks, and hit an all-time high of $2,509.65 per ounce on Friday. For Madonna, Bitcoin's all-time high of nearly $74,000 in March was "just the appetizer." He believes $250,000 is just "in sight."

As of early Tuesday, $BTC is trading at around 60,900, according to CoinGecko data. It has been up by 4% in the past 24 hours and saw a 2.5% increase in the past week.

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