German authorities seize 320 billion yen worth of Bitcoin, largest in the country

seize bitcoins

Police authorities in the German state of Saxony announced on the 30th that they seized 50,000 BTC (equivalent to 320 billion yen) of the crypto asset (virtual currency) Bitcoin (BTC) in January.

He explained that the bitcoins were purchased with profits from operating a pirated website. It said it was the largest seizure of Bitcoin by German law enforcement.

This investigation was carried out in cooperation with prosecutors and tax authorities. The targets of the investigation appear to be two people, one German and one Polish, who operated a pirated website until 2013. The purchased Bitcoins were confiscated after the suspect voluntarily transferred them to the authorities.

This investigation is currently ongoing due to suspicions of copyright law violations and money laundering. It has not yet been determined how the seized bitcoins will be used and processed.

connection: German regulator orders Bitcoin Group to take anti-money laundering measures

Examples of virtual currency seizures

If cryptocurrencies are confiscated as in this case, it will attract attention from the market because it could lead to selling pressure if the authorities decide to sell them. In addition to this case, there have been reports of virtual currency seizures in the United States and other countries.

Last week, it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice in court announcing its intention to sell off 2,934 BTC (equivalent to 18.7 billion yen at the current rate) seized from the dark web “Silk Road.”

connection: US government plans to sell Bitcoin worth 17.8 billion yen related to Silk Road

According to data from Arkham, the U.S. government holds a total of $9.6 billion (1.4 trillion yen) worth of stocks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), as of this writing.

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