Governments of different countries have already confiscated 450 thousand bitcoins from users

The us government authorities confiscated 200 thousand bitcoins from citizens, together with other countries this figure is 453 thousand coins, or 2.6% of the current issue of the first cryptocurrency. This is evidenced by the results of the investigation of the publication The Block. Almost 86% of this mass is accounted for by Silk Road and SELEC.

As reported by the portal The Block, as a result of a series of confiscations in the hands of government agencies of various countries passed a total of 453 thousand bitcoins.

The first mass confiscation occurred following the closure of the Silk Road darknet marketplace in 2013. Then at the disposal of the us authorities was 174 thousand BTC. Some of these assets were sold at auctions, including the entrepreneur Tim Draper. In total, the state bodies of the United States seized 198 thousand bitcoins as a result of more than 100 lawsuits. At the moment, the state-owned remains from 4.1 to 10 thousand BTC, the rest of the bitcoins went under the hammer at an average price of $780.

However, the biggest until now, the confiscation happened in Bulgaria. In may 2017, the Southeast European law Enforcement center (SELEC) reported the seizure of more than 200,000 bitcoins totaling more than $500 million. As stated in the press release of the center, these funds belonged to a criminal group that tried to launder Fiat money through cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, in December of the same year, the representative of the Prosecutor's office of Bulgaria explained that the law enforcement agencies did not actually withdraw this mass. Law enforcement agencies also did not publish details, such as the addresses of wallets, where these funds are located.

The authorities of Finland, Germany, Italy, Australia, great Britain, South Korea and Israel also reported publicly about the confiscation of bitcoin assets.

If you take into account "the case SELEC", then publicly known amount of the withdrawn scriptaction reaches 453 of thousands of bitcoins, according to The Block. Of these, more than 47% are in Bulgaria, almost 32% in the US and 21% in the rest of the country.

The publication also gave a list of all the seizures of bitcoins worth more than $500 thousand:

Authorities around the world confiscated 450 thousand bitcoins

In June, police authorities in Spain and Austria announced the successful elimination of the darknet network for the sale of psychoactive substances for cryptocurrency. Then the operators of the platform confiscated more than $ 4.5 million in bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. In may, British law enforcement officers seized bitcoins worth $700 thousand from the hacker.