German authorities have seized 50,000 bitcoins worth about $2.2 billion, which were allegedly purchased using funds linked to copyrighted material.
According to a police statement, the seizure was the largest seizure of bitcoins by German law enforcement.
Two men of German and Polish nationality are each being investigated on suspicion of managing a pirated copy operation and using the funds to purchase Bitcoin. The two could face charges including unauthorized commercial use of copyrighted material and money laundering.
The suspects voluntarily moved the bitcoins to wallets controlled by German authorities, and it is unclear what law enforcement will do with the cryptocurrencies.
German authorities assisting the investigation included the Dresden Prosecutor’s Office, the Saxony State Criminal Police and the tax investigation of the Leipzig II Tax Office, Saxony’s unified investigative agency.
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About the author
MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020, joining just before Bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for publications covering all cryptocurrency-related news, preferring NFTs, metaverse, web3 games, fundraising, crime, hacking, and cryptocurrency ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. X You can follow MK at @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.