The fact that many criminals on the internet use cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is hardly news.
Earlier this week, for example, it was reported that the brain behind the big hack that hit Twitter last month has a large fortune in bitcoin.
880,000 pirated movies
Two men in Germany who ran the illegal streaming site film2k.to also had a lot of money in cryptocurrencies. Money that has now been seized.
The two men – as well as a third suspect who is still at large – are accused of having distributed over 880,000 pirated copies of films via the portal from the autumn of 2008 to May 2013.
They used the advertising revenue to buy bitcoin and bitcoin cash, two cryptocurrencies that have increased sharply in value since the time of the suspected crime.
Has admitted the crimes
The prosecutor’s office in Dresden has, with the help of the local police, now managed to seize cryptocurrencies worth €25 million.
The two men, who were arrested in November last year, have admitted their crimes and are cooperating with the authorities to catch the third man, the prosecutor’s office writes in a press release.
