Be careful:Germany can seize Bitcoin worth over €100 000 without a criminal case

[nikola22]

Germany's parliament officially passes bill letting customs seize Bitcoin and other crypto worth over €100,000 without a criminal case. Customs could hold Bitcoin and other assets of unclear origin for 30 days and finance court could then extend that by another 150 days. Customs would still need factual signs of illegal origin, not just a large balance.

The bill still needs approval from the Bundesrat, before taking effect on January 1, 2027. According to government estimates, the mechanism for confiscating assets of unexplained origin will generate approximately €308 million for the budget annually, starting from 2028.

https://x.com/coinbureau/status/2121912611881328644

We see that more and more authorities want to confiscate Bitcoin and other crypto assets from people for virtually any reason. Moreover, it is almost certain that these authorities will determine the legality of these funds and invent rules that allow them to seize as much as possible. That is precisely why privacy is becoming increasingly important. If there is no information indicating that a person owns Bitcoin, it becomes much more difficult to seize it.

[obuoma]

It seems the German government are regretting selling off their confiscated Bitcoins and are looking for ways of replenishing same, hence this new bill. They are already making estimate of how much they can raise annually from such seizures which means they already have Bitcoin they are targeting. If the Bitcoin have unknown origin, does it really give the government the power to seize and possibly sell them? Owners of these coins may sue if it were in some countries where nobody is above the law.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

Anonymity is crucial, the German or any other nation can only seize the bitcoin they are aware is in your possession, because no trace linking you to owning bitcoin not case of seizing your bitcoin.
Australian are complaining that banks can call the police on you when you try to withdraw a good amount of your own money from the bank, so it is not new to me if Germany wants to seize the bitcoin of their citizens even without any criminal case. The citizens there have to keep their bitcoin private.

[Dickiy]

It seems the German government are regretting selling off their confiscated Bitcoins and are looking for ways of replenishing same, hence this new bill. They are already making estimate of how much they can raise annually from such seizures which means they already have Bitcoin they are targeting. If the Bitcoin have unknown origin, does it really give the government the power to seize and possibly sell them? Owners of these coins may sue if it were in some countries where nobody is above the law.

The proposed bitcoin confiscation bill certainly proves there is some kind of regret on the part of the government.  I was looking for information related to the amount of bitcoin that the German government has sold and found this A Total of more than 50,000 bitcoins sold in 2024 that Sale reached €2,639,683,413. 92 (source chatGpt)

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Do note that is the German Customs that the law applies to. In other words it applies when crossing borders and as such puts crypto inline with existing currency deceleration requirements around the world tho for fiat and other financial instruments the mandatory declaration threshold is usually $10k. For those the same rules apply: when declaring it you must prove where the money comes from to bring it in. If seized from not declaring you must provide source of it to get it back.

Again, that is the same for most countries in the world. One problem - those rules apply to physical assets. Just as with your credit cards it's not like you are carrying a pouch full of crypto. Aside from proving you have enough money to pay for your visit to a country even the US does not care about your credit limits. Just how will Germany know you have access to crypto when crossing their borders?

[Wincob]

It seems the German government are regretting selling off their confiscated Bitcoins and are looking for ways of replenishing same, hence this new bill. They are already making estimate of how much they can raise annually from such seizures which means they already have Bitcoin they are targeting. If the Bitcoin have unknown origin, does it really give the government the power to seize and possibly sell them? Owners of these coins may sue if it were in some countries where nobody is above the law.

You get it, this was what I had in mind lol, they sold everything and they are feeling like they are missing out already, if I am in Germany I will get rid of anny crypto wallet that's linked with any centralised exchanges, this is the solution.

Bitcoin wallet addresses have no IP address and location, no one will never know that you are holding Bitcoin unless you linked them to a centralised platforms where KYC requirements are been passed.

Avoid KYC verification completely and also old Bitcoin address.

[NeuroticFish]

Germany's parliament officially passes bill letting customs seize Bitcoin and other crypto worth over €100,000 without a criminal case. Customs could hold Bitcoin and other assets of unclear origin for 30 days and finance court could then extend that by another 150 days. Customs would still need factual signs of illegal origin, not just a large balance.

The bill still needs approval from the Bundesrat

There are 2 things here:
* It's a bill that still needs approval, which, from what I've read, is not a formality, but there's a big political coalition favoring it.
* It's related to "unclear origin" i.e. possibly illegal funds. In theory the govt can ask you prove the origin of your money. In reality, with crypto, this can become interesting... in a very bad way.

Of course, I expect it's something meant in theory to help against criminals, but in reality still the average Joe will be the only one to suffer, since the criminals will be one or two steps ahead.

Do note that is the German Customs that the law applies to.

Are you certain? I've also got triggered by the word customs but no, it seems that this law covers any illegal funds. At least this is what the AI I've asked told me

[EluguHcman]

We see that more and more authorities want to confiscate Bitcoin and other crypto assets from people for virtually any reason. Moreover, it is almost certain that these authorities will determine the legality of these funds and invent rules that allow them to seize as much as possible. That is precisely why privacy is becoming increasingly important. If there is no information indicating that a person owns Bitcoin, it becomes much more difficult to seize it.

Most of the authorities that is lately implementing strict or stricter regulations on Bitcoin are due to their grieves for being resisted as an entity to control Bitcoin.
So they sets rules around the boundaries where they can monitor Bitcoin users and transaction activities through the layer 2 Block chain network which gives them the opportunity to have control over users in the region funds.

However, there is always one means to avoid your Bitcoin or crypto currency from being confiscated out of some what reasons or any form that gives regulations the privilege to decide what happens to your funds, and the only ways is to store your Bitcoin in non custodian wallets.

It seems the German government are just looking for any means to discourage Bitcoin or crypto in her region.

[Hazink]

They are already making estimate of how much they can raise annually from such seizures which means they already have Bitcoin they are targeting. If the Bitcoin have unknown origin, does it really give the government the power to seize and possibly sell them? Owners of these coins may sue if it were in some countries where nobody is above the law.

When there is a target placed on how much revenue is expected to be generated from a particular means, this duty to do that will have to use every means necessary to meet that target as the unseen revenue might have already been added as part of what will cover the year's expenses.

The kind of law countries lawmakers pass sometimes is very questionable, and their motive is very obvious, anything they want, they look for a means to make it legal it doesn't matter how the people will feel about it.

[Z-tight]

Just how will Germany know you have access to crypto when crossing their borders?

I don't know why the power was given to the German customs authority. And the legislation is also called the Customs Financial Justice Act, but the law is not about assets people own when crossing the border.

It is also important to note that this law does not only apply to crypto, but other assets too, as long as they reach the threshold of €100k. For crypto, the coins would have to be held in a custodial service, in that way the German customs can order the CASP to confiscate the funds. There is no way they would be able to seize BTC held in self custodial wallets, so good for people who store their coins in the right way.

[Woodie]

The good part about this is that they first have to find it, and am hoping nobody uses their bank to purchase  these coins because this will be the most likely way to track their potential victims. Otherwise if you have to get some Bitcoin and desperate to get your hands on some then buy in small chunks or use cash to avoid being a walking target!

[Floxynice]

According to government estimates, the mechanism for confiscating assets of unexplained origin will generate approximately €308 million for the budget annually, starting from 2028.

Is the government now deliberately trying to rob the people  just to enrich their budget? How is it that they already have an estimated budget for a proposed confistication which is yet to be implemented. This already looks attractive to the government so, they will follow it up duely if it eventually gets implemented.

Bitcoiners living in Germany can actually avoid getting entangled in this if only they practice self custody. At least Bitcoin gives them a choice; they can now choose between self custody and having their bitcoins seized.

[Antotena]

It seems the German government are regretting selling off their confiscated Bitcoins and are looking for ways of replenishing same, hence this new bill. They are already making estimate of how much they can raise annually from such seizures which means they already have Bitcoin they are targeting. If the Bitcoin have unknown origin, does it really give the government the power to seize and possibly sell them? Owners of these coins may sue if it were in some countries where nobody is above the law.

I was about to say the same thing before I saw your reply. The same government seized and sold more than billion worth Bitcoin and they were been shaded that if they had hold the Bitcoin the seized Bitcoin and sold it when Bitcoin traded $120k, they would be swimming in $2b worth investment. This month, Bitcoin dump very hard and the government is making another headline related to seize of Bitcoin, seems they are accumulating here 

This is why privacy is very important. If you are from Germany or live there and you buy and sell Bitcoin, avoid centralized exchanges. Your best shot is decentralized exchanges and use cold storage. You may not offend the government or do anything that is going to bring an investigation but this act of war against Bitcoiners will put some people into problems. The government is very tasty to have some Bitcoin as it seems.

[aoluain]

... will generate approximately €308 million for the budget annually, starting from 2028.

This is the stand out point of that report for me!

They are not content in taking/stealing our wealth by devaluing the currency and squandering
their spending to the point they need more and more to spend. They now need to target their
citizens Bitcoin and other assets they deem fit for pilfering.