German authorities have linked 50,000 BTC to extortion websites.
Authorities in the German state of Saxony have announced the seizure of nearly 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC) as part of an investigation into copyright infringement.
In a January 30 announcement, Saxony police said they were coordinating with tax authorities and prosecutors to secure BTC allegedly linked to two German and Polish nationals. According to police, the individuals bought an estimated $2.17 billion worth of bitcoins at the time of publication — the proceeds of operations hacked by websites in 2013.
“Bitcoins were seized after the accused transferred them to official wallets that were provided voluntarily. [police]Officials said. “This means that the final decision regarding the use of Bitcoin has not yet been made.”
It's unclear when the individuals allegedly linked to the crime bought bitcoin, but the high volume of seizures suggests it may have been when the cryptocurrency's value was low. As of October 31, data from Glassnode indicates that authorities in the United States have seized a total of 210,429 BTC linked to various crimes.
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Coinbase reported in November 2023 that German authorities submitted 1,906 requests for information from crypto exchanges between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2023. Binance, before reaching a $4.3 billion settlement with US authorities, dropped its application for a cryptocurrency protection license. Germany, hints at changes in “international markets and regulation”.
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