The German Police Have Seized Bitcoin Worth $2.1 Billion Through a Piracy Operation

At the request of the Federal Criminal Police Office, one of the accused willingly handed up the bitcoin.

According to a statement released by the German police, they have made a preliminary seizure of 50,000 bitcoins (BTC) with a value of $2.17 billion. They have described this move as the greatest cryptocurrency seizure this country has ever made.

This allegation is connected to the operation of a website that engaged in piracy in 2013 and was in violation of the Copyright Act. The remaining funds from that endeavor were subsequently turned into bitcoin. It was said in the statement that one of the two suspects willingly handed up the bitcoin to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

However, despite the fact that no formal charges have been brought against the individuals, an investigation into future business money laundering is still underway. “The use of the bitcoins is still up in the air,” the police statement said.

In the year 2023, the United States authorities seized bitcoins worth a total of $216 million that were associated with Silk Road, a dark web bazaar that had been shut down in 2013. According to the statistics provided by Arkham, the United States government now has bitcoin worth $9.5 billion.

Also Read: Italian data protection authority finds OpenAI in violation of regulations January 30, 2024