Russian to release 95 million dollars in Bitcoin

Russian authorities are preparing to release 1,032 bitcoins (BTC), worth nearly $95 million. The bitcoins were seized from former detective Marat Tambiev, who was convicted of accepting cryptocurrency bribes from the notorious Infraud organization.

This case marks a major crypto bribery scandal in Russia that shows the increasing involvement of digital assets in criminal activities.

$95 million worth of BTC to flood the market with asset liquidity

Tambiev, who once served as the chief investigator of Moscow's Tver district, In 2023, he was found guilty of accepting a bribe of 1,032 BTC from Infrad, an international hacking group. Instead, Tambiev allegedly facilitated their illegal activities by protecting the group from property raids.

Following a court order, authorities confiscated the bitcoins found on Tambiev's computer. When his Moscow apartment was searched, they seized a Ledger Nano X hardware wallet.

The value of that BTC stock was around $28 million at the time, but has grown to about $95 million at current prices.

In the year In October 2023, Moscow's Nikulinsky Court sentenced Marat Tambiev to 16 years in a maximum security colony and fined him 500 million rubles (about $5.2 million). After his release, the court stripped him of his title and banned him from holding government positions for 12 years.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the country's treasury has begun transferring the seized bitcoins to government revenue. The initial liquidation involved selling approximately $10 million worth of BTC. However, legal challenges have delayed the sale of the entire stock.

According to prosecutors, Marat Tambiev paid bitcoins in small amounts. Therefore, this subsection requires specific court approval to acquire and destroy all assets. Authorities are tracking additional assets linked to Tambiev, including real estate, motorcycles and other cryptocurrencies.

“A source familiar with the materials of the case told TASS that among the property of the investigator that prosecutors want to transfer to the state, there is a Honda motorcycle, several real estate properties in the Moscow region, as well as bitcoins worth several million rubles,” TASS reported. .

Prosecutors also suspect that Tambiev added another layer of complexity by transferring some assets to family members. The ongoing legal process has complicated the Russian Treasury's efforts to sell bitcoin.

However, such a significant Bitcoin transaction could have an impact on the market. In particular, if Russia decides to sell the entire shipment of 1,032.1 BTC, the supply shock may affect the price of Bitcoin.