German authorities may have missed approximately 45,000 bitcoins (BTC) related to the movie piracy site Movie2K, which means there could still be around $5 billion worth of bitcoins (BTC) that have not been seized and sold.
The crypto intelligence platform Arkham stated on Friday that it discovered "over 45,000 bitcoins (BTC) still held in wallets associated with Movie2K," worth "almost equivalent to the amount seized by Germany last year."
German police seized nearly 50,000 bitcoins (BTC) in January 2024 and sold them later that year. A few months later, the price of bitcoin (BTC) nearly doubled.
Due to the timing of the sale, Germany missed out on billions of dollars in additional revenue, but prosecutors explained that local laws require them to sell volatile assets like cryptocurrencies quickly to avoid the risk of loss.
Arkham noted that its platform shows the newly discovered batch of bitcoins (BTC) amounts to 45,060, "associated with earlier fund flows and addresses related to Movie2K."
Arkham added, "These bitcoins (BTC) are likely still controlled by the operators of Movie2K and have not been transferred since 2019, spread across more than 100 bitcoin (BTC) wallets."
Arkham stated that German authorities did not mention these bitcoins (BTC) in their findings, and these assets were not included in the sale conducted in mid-last year.
The current trading price of bitcoin (BTC) is slightly below $111,000, making the total value of this batch approximately $4.99 billion. If calculated at the peak of $124,128 reached in mid-August, the value of this batch of bitcoins (BTC) is close to $5.6 billion.
German prosecutors sold 49,858 bitcoins (BTC) in multiple sales between June and July 2024 at an average price of $57,900, realizing approximately $2.8 billion.
Just a few months later, in mid-November, bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $90,000. By December, the price of bitcoin (BTC) had risen 75% compared to the average selling price, exceeding $100,000. This means the value of the sold bitcoins (BTC) would exceed $5 billion.
The police seized these bitcoins (BTC) in January of that year. Previously, two men suspected of operating Movie2K voluntarily transferred the funds to the authorities. Relevant departments stated that these two individuals used the funds obtained from the site to purchase bitcoins (BTC).
Authorities described this as "the largest bitcoin (BTC) seizure ever by German law enforcement agencies."
Prosecutors began selling bitcoins (BTC) in batches on multiple exchanges starting in June and confirmed the completion of all sales by mid-July. They added that local laws require the sale if there is at least a 10% risk of value loss for the assets.
It is currently unclear how German authorities will respond to Arkham's findings, but if the police wish to seize these bitcoins (BTC), they must prove their connection to Movie2K.
Local laws stipulate that law enforcement must demonstrate in court that these bitcoins (BTC) are of illegal origin—related to the now-closed piracy site—before they can be seized.
Even so, the police can only actually take control of these bitcoins (BTC) after finding the controllers of the more than 100 wallets mentioned in the Arkham report and completing the transfer of ownership.
Related: Wintermute urges the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exclude network tokens from securities regulations.
Original article: “Arkham Reveals: German Government Has Yet to Seize $5 Billion in Bitcoin (BTC) Related to Piracy Site Movie2K”
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