Bulgaria Government Shocked To Discover It Owns $3 Billion In Bitcoin

[Hydrogen]

Bulgaria’s GDP is about $52.4 billion (2016), so it is quite a shock that the Bulgarian Government is sitting on an approximate $3 billion worth of Bitcoins seized in an anti-corruption operation back in May.

Putting this into a little more glaring context, Bulgaria is holding 18% of the national debt in bitcoins...

Bulgarian law enforcement jointly worked with the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELC), a regional organization comprised of 12 member states, to bust a sophisticated organized-crime network, arresting twenty-three Bulgarian nationals and seizing a total of 213,519 bitcoins.

SELC described the organized-crime scheme as the hacking of Bulgarian Custom’s computers and allowing those associated with the group to skip fees for importing goods into the country. To make it work, the group recruited corrupt Customs officers to upload a virus into government machines, so that hackers could establish remote access.

The organized criminal group consisted in Bulgarian nationals having connections in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hellenic Republic, Romania and Republic of Serbia. The modus operandi used was recruiting corrupted Customs officers in all involved countries with the purpose to infiltrate a virus in the Customs’ computerized systems. Once the virus installed, from distance, the offenders were able to finalize various transports, as in the Customs’ system appeared that the cargo was already checked and passed.

Further, SELC provided details of how the operation was conducted, involving a large-scale search of “more than 100 addresses, suspects, and vehicles.” Out of the 23 suspects arrested, 5 of them were Bulgarian Customs officers. Police seized “equipment, devices for communication, computers, tablets, and bank documents.”

Bulgarian authorities have searched more than 100 addresses, suspects and vehicles. A large quantity of money was seized, as well as equipment, devices for communication, computers, tablets, bank documents, etc. 23 suspects were arrested, 5 of them acting as Bulgarian Customs officers. As result of this criminal activity the damages recorded by the Customs Agency, only for year 2015, is around 10 million Leva.

Here is where things get interesting... Police also seized 213,519 bitcoins, at the time, worth $500 million. As of writing this article, the amount seized, is now worth approximately 3,676,583,661, according to CoinDesk.

As well, up to now were found in the virtual space bitcoin wallets of the main suspects with a total value of 213,519 bitcoins. As a reference, the value of one bitcoin is rating to 2354 USD. The offenders choose the bitcoin way of investing/saving the money, because it is rather difficult to be tracked and followed. 

SELC explained why the criminals used bitcoin,

The offenders choose the bitcoin way of investing/saving the money, because it is rather difficult to be tracked and followed.

What remains a mystery to most, is what the Bulgarian government will do with the seized bitcoins? As mentioned in the beginning, the national debt could certainly be reduced. Have we just discovered a large seller that is ready to pour cold water on the party?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-08/bulgaria-government-shocked-discover-it-owns-3-billion-bitcoin

....

Not certain if this news caused the recent price decline. There was a bloomberg article claiming 1,000 people own 40% of bitcoin which might have scared off investors. There could be other reasons behind the recent decline, or it could be a sell off as traders dump to turn their profits.

There have been many posts on this forum claiming governments will shut down bitcoin or illegalize crypto. This article provides a 3rd option -- confiscation. States need not shut down bitcoin if they take it all from criminals, making themselves wealthier in the process.

Also, is it my imagination or is zerohedge assuming an anti crypto stance of late? It seems as if someone is pressuring ZH to publish news stories which criticize or attack bitcoin which is interesting.

[omorfi]

In bitcoin Balkans trust. Some countries seriously interest cryptocurrencies such as Bulgaria, especially Estonia. As some economists say an economic expansion is needed to fight with economical crisis. Crypto s could be a solution maybe

[Tesorex]

There, blessing out of thin air for a country, people say Bitcoin has been used by criminals, they never say that governments bust them and take their Bitcoins, happy dumping Bulgarian government, happy dumping, who wouldn't?

[Hexah]

213,519 bitcoins

That is a massive amount of bitcoin just for a country imagine if they don't discover that one I think criminals will enjoying and harvest right now. Yes, the question is what do the Bulgarian government do with that seized amount of bitcoins? Bulgarian government would be rich by now and bitcoin price would skyrocketing again.

[cynical]

Now this is some news.
I really thought criminals were using more monero, dash and zcash.
Could this affect the price of bitcoin?
Do criminals really contribute to the very nice bitcoin price?

There was a bloomberg article claiming 1,000 people own 40% of bitcoin which might have scared off investors.

This is a bit scary if it is true, and indeed a reason to shy away,
How true could this be?

[wxa7115]

213,519 bitcoins

That is a massive amount of bitcoin just for a country imagine if they don't discover that one I think criminals will enjoying and harvest right now. Yes, the question is what do the Bulgarian government do with that seized amount of bitcoins? Bulgarian government would be rich by now and bitcoin price would skyrocketing again.

If they are smart they will sit on those coins and will not sell them, they are just going to crash the market if they do, if bitcoin is really the future they may be sitting in one of the largest holdings of bitcoin in the entire world, their country may become a economic powerhouse by just holding bitcoins similar to what happens to governments holding lots of gold.

[DannaWonder]

213,519 bitcoins

That is a massive amount of bitcoin just for a country imagine if they don't discover that one I think criminals will enjoying and harvest right now. Yes, the question is what do the Bulgarian government do with that seized amount of bitcoins? Bulgarian government would be rich by now and bitcoin price would skyrocketing again.

US Government seized more bitcoin before but they put it into auction. I think Bulgarian government intended not to sell those coin from the start and just decided to keep it. Are they supporting bitcoin in their country?

[bitcoinisbest]

213,519 bitcoins

That is a massive amount of bitcoin just for a country imagine if they don't discover that one I think criminals will enjoying and harvest right now. Yes, the question is what do the Bulgarian government do with that seized amount of bitcoins? Bulgarian government would be rich by now and bitcoin price would skyrocketing again.

US Government seized more bitcoin before but they put it into auction. I think Bulgarian government intended not to sell those coin from the start and just decided to keep it. Are they supporting bitcoin in their country?

This is huge and people think that even if they have 1% of it it's enough for them . Here government is holding such a huge number of Btc that if they sell thier reserves will increase with billion $.

May be government will keep continue holding as they also think the price will rise in coming years .

[ss890]

I am more interested in those 1000 people who has 40% of bitcoin. It looks like the they are the neck of this thing and can fluctuate the market badly. But again if they are kind of whale people then they may not get scared of this news as what it has got to do with their investment as long as they are not in the Bulgaria country. That is the point here really, so I think there has got to be some different reason for the current decline in the market, may be a another market correction per se.

Im believer of whales, because they hold great amount of bitcoins and they can easily spread out the chain of events to panic sell others and thus leading to declined price.

Nobody cares about the Bulgaria, as nobody cared about the China, Korea, Indonesia etc etc. So I think bitcoin will rise even faster now as people were waiting for the bitcoin to go down so that they can buy cheap. :-)

[davis196]

I`m from Bulgaria and i`m not sure that these news are true.There aren`t any information coming from the bulgarian media about this.If the bulgarian government really owns and really wants to sell these bitcoins,i think that they will do it after a few months.We don`t have to worry about the price being dumped.
After all,it`s only 3 billion USD.Such amount can`t have impact over the entire bitcoin price.

[LeGaulois]

 they can not sell the bitcoins until the crime has been punished, ( i think) I mean the criminals judged and in jail. Up to this they don't really own the bitcoins but seize until the story is judged in court. It's what they usually do for example with drug dealers they seize the cars, houses, business and at the end only they sell for their profits or to compensate the victims if there is any.

Isn't there a U.S. agency that seized some bitcoins from a website on the darkweb (skrillroad or something like that) I don't remember about a decline in the price when this news was out

[ladydark]

I`m from Bulgaria and i`m not sure that these news are true.There aren`t any information coming from the bulgarian media about this.If the bulgarian government really owns and really wants to sell these bitcoins,i think that they will do it after a few months.We don`t have to worry about the price being dumped.
After all,it`s only 3 billion USD.Such amount can`t have impact over the entire bitcoin price.

Definitely,it would have very less effect over bitcoin price since the marketcap of bitcoin is very high and so no need to get afraid of.

[tomahawk9]

I`m from Bulgaria and i`m not sure that these news are true.There aren`t any information coming from the bulgarian media about this.If the bulgarian government really owns and really wants to sell these bitcoins,i think that they will do it after a few months.We don`t have to worry about the price being dumped.
After all,it`s only 3 billion USD.Such amount can`t have impact over the entire bitcoin price.

If what you say is true, about no news coverage, then it confirms that this is actually just another FUD article trying to shake up the market before the launch of Bitcoin Futures. We need to remember that sometimes the movements on the market are related to speculation and news, in this case, the possibility of a massive btc dump.
But from the start I thought it was strange how this "news" was released right before Bitcoin Futures go live.

[xdrpx]

Now since they've found out a lucky fortune, I hope they're smart enough to retain it for a few more years and not sell it. This could slowly help them settle their nation's debt and could probably be used to help the poor. I would be a happy Bulgarian if a certain percentage of those Bitcoin holdings were given away as an airdrop to the general public. A holding of that proportion could probably bring down the price of Bitcoin by a small percentage for a few days if it were to be sold to a large buyer(s).

Now apart from this, there's also news that the United Bulgarian Bank and the First Investment Bank (Fibank) have closed accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges a day or two ago. Could this mean that, they're not welcoming exchanges and the public from trading crypto? If this is the case, then I wonder if people would even be given a part of the lucky fortune.

[eaLiTy]

Not certain if this news caused the recent price decline. There was a bloomberg article claiming 1,000 people own 40% of bitcoin which might have scared off investors. There could be other reasons behind the recent decline, or it could be a sell off as traders dump to turn their profits.

It is true that certain individuals who started bitcoin does hold the majority of the coins in circulation and it would definitely scare off any economist because they could manipulate the entire market if they plan on selling off the coins,i am not sure whether that is the reason of this decline,but the bubble has being taking the price without any breaks and may be because of that the price corrected ,will the Bulgarian government auction off the coins like the US ,i am not sure what they are planning with it.

[jseverson]

Lmao it looks like Bulgaria could teach the US government a thing or two about HODLing. $500 million to $3 freaking billion is no joke. It would be interesting to see what steps they take next. Do they HODL? Do they go the auction route like the US? What's interesting is that if they auction it, then they're basically giving their citizens their blessing to use Bitcoin. That may not be so bad because they've obviously profited from it, and they already know they can crack down on crimes using Bitcoin.

There was a bloomberg article claiming 1,000 people own 40% of bitcoin which might have scared off investors.

Nah, if you read it, they don't back it with any statistics at all. I would take that with a grain of salt.

[imadmirer]

This is news for intense speculation but I do not think this will affect the bitcoin ecosystem. Crackdown of this kind we have come across in many countries in many areas of crime. There have also been seizure of money, wealth, gold, property and so on. But that may have a little impact on the economy. In the same way apart from initial apprehension with respect to bitcoin transaction I feel this will not make people or officials take a stance against it.

This in fact can serve as a trigger for responsible intellectuals to combat the flaws present in the current system and practices. Evolution towards perfection is needed. Already bitcoin has proven to be a very smart alternative for transaction and also investment. It is in due course of time that I feel bitcoin should enter the mainstream transaction mediums.

Coming to the Bulgarian situation, well the officials need to complete the trial and when the seized bitcoins technically become the state's then immediately encashment to temporarily relieve the debts will be an ideal call. Seized money or property or bitcoins coming into circulation will be the best thing to do than get into a gamble especially as a state. Though this may cause a decline in the value of bitcoin temporarily, it will not hamper the prospect of bitcoin soaring high in the long run. It isn't always profit that should be sought. At times loss or a loss in the margin of profit can be embraced for a responsible decision.

[coolcoinz]

Now since they've found out a lucky fortune, I hope they're smart enough to retain it for a few more years and not sell it. This could slowly help them settle their nation's debt and could probably be used to help the poor.

The governments aren't the holder types and even if they were to ask some bankers what to do the answer would be sell now before the bubble pops.
They will most likely put it on auction soon. I'd also expect raises for the agents who got the coins. The poor will get nothing

I would be a happy Bulgarian if a certain percentage of those Bitcoin holdings were given away as an airdrop to the general public.

You can forget about it. Governments are there to benefit from your work not the other way round. No charity, get back to work!

[alani123]

Didn't other governments participating get to have a share of the seized bitcoins? Greece would like to have a piece please. It would be particularly helpful for our country's economy, plus it will be fun seeing deranged politicians in the Greek parliament fight ovet the coins.

[oblivi]

Also, is it my imagination or is zerohedge assuming an anti crypto stance of late? It seems as if someone is pressuring ZH to publish news stories which criticize or attack bitcoin which is interesting.

Zerohedge has a varied output on crypto. I guess Zerohedge is a team and "Tyler Durden" is a bunch of people. Sometimes they say Bitcoin is the second coming of Jesus, other times they say it's the devil. It's pretty confused for anyone used to reading a website that only has one side.

What is a permanent is the comment section. It's filled with clueless old goldbugs that have been watching BTC fo up since the beginning, and they are still in denial.