According to an official release, 1,889 BTC were seized by Finnish customs during drug busts and were subsequently legally forfeited to the state as a result of court decisions. The sum comes from raids before 2018 which included digital assets used in various criminal investigations being seized. The stash’s value increased to $130 million thanks to last year’s bull run. However, the government lost a sizable sum of money because it misjudged the market.
Finland made plans to give Bitcoin it had confiscated to Ukraine public in April of this year. Over the past few years, the government of the nation has announced numerous operations against drug lords, traffickers, and other criminals.
The government declared that it was prepared to donate up to $77 million in Bitcoin to conflict-torn Ukraine. Despite conflicting feedback from the international community, the Finnish Parliament accepted the payment as part of the second supplemental budget this summer.
Afterward, a government official was cited as stating: “Of course, no universal money is earmarked that way. But here, as if mentally, this money from bitcoins is earmarked so that it can be used to support Ukraine.”
There are currently roughly 90 BTC in Customs’ control while they wait for a court to issue a lawful forfeiture decision.
Although there are no clear regulations for the confiscated Bitcoin, many nations have sold off such funds.
Numerous organizations, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Post Office, the FBI, etc., have been seizing cryptocurrency for many years. The US Marshals Service, a law enforcement body inside the Department of Justice, typically sells these assets in open auctions.
In a recent announcement, the Justice Department stated that it had seized and forfeited approximately $500,000 from North Korean ransomware organizations and their accomplices. Ransoms paid by healthcare professionals in Kansas and Colorado are included in a percentage of the stolen funds. The investigation assisted the organization in locating a ransomware strain that was previously unknown.
The sale of 611 Bitcoin that were taken during the GateHub breach investigation was reported by the French government last year.