German Police Seizes Record 50,000 BTC Worth $2.17B in Major Piracy Case

[zasad@]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/german-police-seizes-record-50-145205216.html
https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/dresden/dresden-radebeul/bitcoin-geld-raubkopie-ermittlung-polizei-100.html
"German police have seized 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth approximately $2.17 billion, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the country's history.

The assets were confiscated during an investigation into a website that violated the Copyright Act in 2013. The Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office, the Saxony State Criminal Police Office, and the Leipzig II Tax Office's tax investigation department conducted the investigation, with support from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the FBI, and a Munich-based forensic IT expert firm.

According to a statement from the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office, the two individuals responsible for the pirate company operated a leading German piracy portal until May 2013. Proceeds from the venture were allegedly converted into Bitcoin."

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Europe is catching up with America in terms of confiscated Bitcoins.

[Fiatless]

These criminals ran an illegal firm that distributed pirated movies and also offered an illegal streaming service for some years and to cover up their dealings they converted the funds to Bitcoin. Violation of copyright laws and money laundering using Bitcoin is a criminal offence that shouldn't be supported. Many film production companies are losing millions of dollars yearly due to piracy. I am pleased that these German law enforcement agencies were able to discover these illegal businesses and seize the funds.

This has shown that using Bitcoin to cover up criminal activities might not be a good option. This is because most of these law enforcement agencies are also applying modern technology to trace these funds. I hope the money will be used for the good of the people.

[avikz]

Europe is catching up with America in terms of confiscated Bitcoins.

That's fine! I am sure that as a common bitcoin user, you would not want such criminals to be a part of the network. So with every criminal scot Bitcoin network is getting cleaned a bit. Definitely it is a good job done by the German police by catching the criminals and by confesticating the Bitcoins. Doesn't matter how decentralize the network is, criminals are not welcome.

So let Europe catch up with America in this matter because it is for the greater good of the Bitcoin network.

[Fiatless]

Europe is catching up with America in terms of confiscated Bitcoins.

That's fine! I am sure that as a common bitcoin user, you would not want such criminals to be a part of the network. So with every criminal scot Bitcoin network is getting cleaned a bit. Definitely it is a good job done by the German police by catching the criminals and by confesticating the Bitcoins. Doesn't matter how decentralize the network is, criminals are not welcome.

So let Europe catch up with America in this matter because it is for the greater good of the Bitcoin network.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Bitcoin is that it is mainly used to cover up criminal funding and other illegal activities. But they fail to understand that fiat is a far better means to give or receive payments from criminal activities. The majority of the kidnappers that are ravaging my country only ask for fiat ransom. None of them have ever asked for cryptocurrencies because they could cover up their tracks easily with fiat. So I agree that these seizures by the government are making the Bitcoin system clean and showing critics that the currency is not a hiding place for criminal elements.     

[zasad@]

Europe is catching up with America in terms of confiscated Bitcoins.

That's fine! I am sure that as a common bitcoin user, you would not want such criminals to be a part of the network. So with every criminal scot Bitcoin network is getting cleaned a bit. Definitely it is a good job done by the German police by catching the criminals and by confesticating the Bitcoins. Doesn't matter how decentralize the network is, criminals are not welcome.

So let Europe catch up with America in this matter because it is for the greater good of the Bitcoin network.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Bitcoin is that it is mainly used to cover up criminal funding and other illegal activities. But they fail to understand that fiat is a far better means to give or receive payments from criminal activities. The majority of the kidnappers that are ravaging my country only ask for fiat ransom. None of them have ever asked for cryptocurrencies because they could cover up their tracks easily with fiat. So I agree that these seizures by the government are making the Bitcoin system clean and showing critics that the currency is not a hiding place for criminal elements.     

I don’t know the statute of limitations for such crimes in Europe, but this crime happened more than 11 years ago, and Bitcoin was not so popular then and was very inexpensive.
But unfortunately, the article does not contain information about how the criminals and their assets were found. Perhaps it was a deal.