Germany: Police seize bitcoins worth €2B
German authorities have obtained around €2 billion in bitcoin linked to the defunct piracy site movie2k.to, reportedly via a “voluntary” transfer from the accused rather than a technical wallet seizure. Commenters debate how voluntary such cooperation can be under threat of prosecution, the comparatively lenient but persistent nature of German sentencing, and the legal treatment of link-only piracy platforms versus companies like Google. The case also raises broader questions about governments becoming major bitcoin holders, the erosion of anonymity for large crypto holdings, and whether offloading such a stash would meaningfully affect bitcoin’s market price.
Case background & context
- Thread identifies the site as movie2k.to, a German-language streaming/linking platform shut down in 2013.
- Some note this is one of several related cases (kino.to, kinox.to, movie4k.to) that authorities have pursued aggressively.
- German reports are said to frame the bitcoins as “voluntarily transferred” to police; others argue this is effectively coercive seizure under threat of prosecution.
Cold storage, coercion & the “$5 wrench”
- Debate over whether the operators used proper cold storage or kept keys insecurely (e.g., on a desktop or thumb drive).
- Several comments reference the “$5 wrench attack” (physical or legal coercion rather than cryptographic breaking) as the likely mechanism behind handing over the coins.
- Disagreement on incentives: some say doing time would be worth €2B; others note authorities can monitor and re-seize funds later, making a deal more rational.
Government control, anonymity & Bitcoin’s purpose
- Discussion on whether government holdings undermine Bitcoin’s “anti-government” appeal.
- Some argue Bitcoin was meant to be decentralized, not government-proof; governments holding BTC is compatible with the design.
- Others highlight that crypto’s anonymity, especially Bitcoin’s, is limited against state-level power; Monero is mentioned as more private in practice.
- Point raised that as long as governments can’t print more BTC, their ownership isn’t inherently problematic from a Bitcoin-maxi perspective.
Piracy, linking, and legal interpretation
- Dispute over whether a site that only links to pirated content should be treated like a piracy site.
- One side calls out double standards: search engines also surface such links and profit from ads but are protected by DMCA-style processes and their broader, non-piracy use.
- Others emphasize intent, business model, and legal compliance (takedown processes, contact info, corporate structures) as key differences.
Sentencing, extradition & German context
- Several note Germany’s comparatively mild sentencing, especially versus the US, but warn tax and financial crimes are taken very seriously.
- Clarifications that German citizens generally cannot be extradited to non-EU countries; EU extradition has constraints and repatriation rules.
- Speculation that long-term inability to spend €2B without detection, plus strong financial tracking in Germany, made cooperation attractive.
Market impact & liquidity of €2B BTC
- Debate on whether €2B in BTC can be liquidated at “spot value.”
- Some argue daily BTC trading volume (in the tens of billions) and OTC/auction mechanisms mean it could be offloaded in days or weeks with manageable price impact.
- Others question how much of reported volume is genuine vs. wash trading and whether “fresh money” is sufficient to absorb such sales.