Finland Looking for Brokers to Sell Seized Bitcoins Worth $80 Million

Finland’s customs authority is looking for brokers to sell 1,981 bitcoins seized in drug cases. The coins are currently worth nearly $80 million.

• Finland’s customs authority announced Thursday that it is seeking brokers to sell 1,981 bitcoins seized in drug busts, Bloomberg reported, noting that the coins were forfeited to the state by court order.
• At the time of writing, the bitcoin stash is worth $78.75 million.
• Most of the seized coins were accumulated in raids before 2018. The Finnish State Treasury set out guidelines for handling crypto assets that year. It prohibited authorities from storing cryptocurrencies at exchanges, requiring them to keep the coins offline.
• Pekka Pylkkanen, Finnish Customs’ director of financial management, explained that the authorities want a permanent solution to “safely and reliably” sell cryptocurrencies forfeited to the state coffers in the future. The customs agency described in a statement:

The main aim of Finnish Customs is to make sure the cryptocurrencies are sold in a secure way, preventing further money laundering and criminal activities.

• Finnish Customs said that it could sign an agreement with as many as three brokers for the sale of seized BTC, the publication conveyed, adding that the agency anticipates “more cryptocurrency seizures.”