Germany may have overlooked around 45,000 Bitcoin linked to the movie piracy site Movie2K an amount worth roughly $5 billion that could still be seized and liquidated.
According to crypto analytics firm Arkham, these Bitcoins remain in wallets tied to Movie2K and are “almost equal to the stash Germany confiscated” last year. In January 2024, police seized nearly 50,000 BTC, later selling them before the asset’s price nearly doubled.
The decision to sell drew criticism for missing out on billions in potential gains. Prosecutors, however, defended the move, explaining that German law requires volatile assets like cryptocurrencies to be sold quickly in order to minimize risk.
Germany May Have Missed $5 Billion in Movie2K Bitcoin
Arkham said the newly identified stash of Bitcoin, totaling 45,060 BTC, was “connected to earlier Movie2K movements and addresses.”
“This is most likely still under the control of the Movie2K operators. It has not moved since 2019 and is split across more than 100 Bitcoin wallets,” Arkham.
Arkham added that German authorities had not mentioned this Bitcoin, and it was not included in the sales carried out in mid-2024.
With Bitcoin trading just under $111,000, the holdings are now valued at $4.99 billion. At Bitcoin’s peak of $124,128 in mid-August, the stash would have been worth nearly $5.6 billion.
Germany Faces Legal Hurdles in Seizing Extra Movie2K Bitcoin
It remains unclear how German authorities will respond to Arkham’s findings, but if police attempt to seize the Bitcoin, they must first prove it is linked to Movie2K.
Under local laws, prosecutors would need to demonstrate in court that the Bitcoin came from illicit activity tied to the piracy site before any seizure is permitted.
Even then, authorities would not be able to take control of the funds until they identify who controls the more than 100 wallets flagged by Arkham and have ownership legally transferred.
