The US government wants to confiscate 4,000 BTC, seized during the arrest of sellers and the closure of dark-net markets. To date, the cost of such a number of Bitcoins exceeds $ 24 million.
According to a statement published by the Department of Justice of Maryland County on Tuesday, prosecutors charged two US citizens - Ryan Farace and Robert Swain. The accused allegedly produced drugs and distributed them through the trading platforms of dark-net.
"As part of the indictment, the government is seeking confiscation of at least $ 5,665,000 plus the cost of 4,000 Bitcoins, which are supposed to represent proceeds from illicit drug sales," the statement said.
If approved, this request will be the last addition to the existing pool of cryptocurrencies confiscated by the US government, which can later be sold through auctions and enter the market.
This is not the first time that the authorities have confiscated Bitcoins (or other cryptocurrencies) within the framework of the closure of dark-net markets. One of the largest seizures was the seizure of 144,000 BTC by the founder of the bark-net market. Subsequently, they were sold at auctions from 2013 to 2015.
Earlier this year, the US Marshals Service also conducted an auction to sell more than 3,800 Bitcoins (worth $ 51 million) - the first after selling 2,700 BTC in 2016. In addition, in March this year, the Marshals Service announced an auction for the sale of 2,170 BTC seized in connection with various criminal, civil and administrative matters. Meanwhile, in another indictment this spring, the US government also tried to confiscate 500 Bitcoins after accusing four people of creating false identity cards.
Not only the US is actively selling crypto-loans, obtained illegally. Recently, the authorities of Bavaria sold on the exchanges of cryptocurrencies for $ 14 million. According to available information, for 1 month, 1 312 BTC, 1 399 BCH, 1 312 BTG and 220 ETH were sold through more than 1600 transactions on the German trading platform.