The Saxony police in Germany has reportedly confiscated approximately 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth around $2.17 billion, as part of an investigation into violations of copyright laws. According to a statement made on January 30, the seizures are linked to two individuals, one German and one Polish, who allegedly bought the Bitcoin with profits made from pirated material sold on websites in 2013.
The seizure operation was a joint effort between the Saxony police, tax authorities, and state prosecutors. The authorities stated the Bitcoin was willingly transferred to official wallets provided by the police by the accused. However, a final decision is yet to be made regarding the utilization of the confiscated Bitcoin.
The timing of the purchase of the Bitcoin by the accused individuals remains unclear but speculations suggest it could be when the value of the cryptocurrency was relatively low. Other countries have also intervened in cryptocurrency-related offenses; U.S. authorities reportedly confiscated an overall total of 210,429 BTC in connection to several crimes, according to Glassnode data as of October 31.
Additional reports show that German authorities had filed 1,906 requests for information from the crypto exchange platform, Coinbase, from Q4 of 2022 to Q3 of 2023. Prior to a $4.3-billion settlement with U.S. authorities, leading exchange platform Binance withdrew its cryptocurrency custody license application in Germany, a move believed to be in response to changing international regulations and market conditions.