TL;DR Breakdown
• The cryptocurrencies were seized in the state of Hesse in Germany.
• The country in Europe closes the year with one of the largest amounts of crypto seized.
Recently the law enforcement body in Germany sold around $ 113 million worth of crypto seized for illegal trafficking. The authority carried out the operation in the first quarter of the year, but it was not until now that it revealed how much money was seized.
Reports indicate that in early 2021 the agency intercepted an illegal transaction with cryptocurrencies. This arrest was achieved in the German state Hesse. After releasing the funds, the region’s authority received the money.
Crypto seized benefited Hesse government
Recently, the control agency against cyber-crime in Frankfurt-Germany went to the cryptographic entity Bankhaus Scheich to talk about crypto seized. According to the bank, as these cryptos are linked to organized crime, they are called “contaminated money,” so it will not be possible to trade them in traditional exchanges. The sale of the tokens was carried out anonymously but had a great reception of people.
To achieve the objective of selling the so-called “contaminated” cryptos, they had to go through a cleaning process and thus publish them. The bank had to do procedures that took over seven months to complete. Finally, the crypto seized was released and taken to an auction where it was raised $113 million.
Forbes, an online business magazine, said that on the list of crypto seized were Bitcoin and Ether tokens, the main cryptos in the virtual market. However, it is possible there were other tokens on the list not disclosed.
The cleaning process in cryptos
After the news of the crypto seized and subsequent auction, many people might wonder what the crypto cleaning consists of. Tokens such as BTC or ETH leave a trace on the Blockchain network after completing any transaction, allowing funds to be easily identified. If an illegal procedure occurs with cryptocurrencies, they might be traced to the exchange where the transaction comes from, and there, they would be called “contaminated.”
According to the bank that carried out the cleaning process in Hesse-Germany, various tools had to be used to allow their legal possession because the cryptos were contaminated. After this problem, the police agencies in Frankfurt and the bank agreed to collaborate on future operations.
While the apprehension in Germany is being carried out, other countries worldwide are fighting this illegal operation with cryptocurrencies. Over 200 Bitcoin seized for illegal operations were reported in October. According to the token’s value today, this figure would correspond to more than $9,600.
The recent seizures do not affect the value of cryptos. Bitcoin is trading at $49,041, up 0.52 percent in the last 24 hours. But Ethereum reaches a figure of $3,956, losing 1.48 percent of its value in the last day.
