Seized Crypto Sold For Millions In Germany

By Dmitriy

As reported by local news agency Der Tagesspiegel, cryptocurrency worth €12 million ($13.9 million) has been seized by prosecutors in the German federal state of Bavaria. It must be noted that this is the highest sale in the legal history of Germany.

According to the reports, the sale involved 1312 Bitcoins (BTC), in addition to respectable quantities of other digital currencies. These other digital currencies include 1399 Bitcoin Cash, 1312 Bitcoin Gold, and 220 Ethereum. Our of the total cryptocurrencies that were clutched as a result of criminal proceedings were sold via 1,600 individual transactions, over a period of two months. Prosecutors did not refrain from being vocal about the case and said, “Since all cryptocurrencies are exposed to the risk of high price fluctuations or even total loss, the Bayern Central Cybercrime Office ordered an emergency sale.”

These funds that were collected were sized during criminal proceedings against online platform “Lesen und Lauschen,”. Lesen und Lauschen was illegally offering more than 200,000 e-books and audiobooks for a price that was a little above almost a few cents.  As per  Der Tagesspiegel, the platform had a customer base of at least 30,000 people. The site was banned by officers from the Bayern Central Cybercrime Office, who also arrested the operators on June 2017.

Auctioning off assets seized during criminal investigations has come to be a common practice by law enforcement agencies all over the world. So while Germany raised nearly $14 million from cryptocurrency sale, the US Marshals Service made over $40 million for 3,812 BTC seized in the course of civil and criminal proceedings in January.

Dmitriy

Having majored in Social Psychology and Economics, I worked as a team lead of a tech and fundamental analysis lab in the Applied System Analysis Research Institute. I write financial articles for various international media. I also hold the position of a Chief Analyst at RoboForex.

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