Bitcoin sale nets German government $2.8B
The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged an emergency sale of 49,858 Bitcoin between June 19 and July 12, 2024, as part of the Movie2k investigation.
The German government has acknowledged a multibillion emergency Bitcoin sale that began in June. On July 17, an official announcement from the state of Sachsen recognized the sale of about 49,858 Bitcoin ($64,990) between June 19 and July 12, 2024, in coordination with the Federal Criminal Police Office.
The proceeds of the sale totaled 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion), and they were provisionally seized by the Leipzig Regional Court as part of the continuing criminal proceedings in the “Movie2k case,” according to the announcement.
According to the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office, an emergency sale is legally needed anytime there is a 10% or more risk of value loss before the completion of existing criminal procedures.
The asset sale pushed Bitcoin’s price lower in June. The cryptocurrency fell by 9.8% this month, from over $67,000 on June 1 to around $60,000 on June 30. The dominant cryptocurrency fell further in July, momentarily dropping below $55,000 before recovering. “After extensive preparations, the urgent sales of the Bitcoin due to the emergency sale were conducted in numerous small tranches over approximately three and a half weeks,” according to the statement’s translator.
Movie2k case
Movie2k was a platform notorious for broadcasting pirated content for many years.
The inquiry focused on the unauthorized commercial use of intellectual works for profit and consequent money laundering. Since mid-2012, two operators allegedly utilizedv advertising fees and subscription revenue to purchase substantial sums of Bitcoin. In January, the platform’s operators transferred roughly 50,000 Bitcoin to German authorities. The coins were worth around 1.96 billion euros ($2.1 billion) at the then-current rate of 39,400 euros per BTC.
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