At current prices, those coins are worth nearly $5 billion, putting renewed scrutiny on Berlin’s choices last year.
According to Arkham, the dormant stash sits across more than 100 wallets linked to the defunct Movie2K site. Reports have disclosed that Movie2K operators were arrested in 2019, and that German authorities recovered nearly 49,858 BTC in January 2024.
Those coins were later sold off in June and July 2024. The newly identified 45,000 BTC, however, showed no movement after 2019, suggesting control by the same operators rather than state custody.
BREAKING: ARKHAM IDENTIFIES $5B BTC THAT THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT FAILED TO SEIZE
German police seized 49,858 BTC from the operators of Movie2K, a film piracy website, in early 2024. The government sold it in July 2024 for $2.89B at an average price of $57,900.
Germany defended the move by warning of a possible “significant loss of value of around 10% or more” if it held the coins longer.
Market prices have since climbed, and Bitcoin has reached an all-time high above $123,000, making the earlier sale look, in raw numbers, like a large missed upside.
The new finding does not automatically mean those wallets can be taken by the state. Legal steps would be required to prove ownership and to secure court orders.
Technical challenges exist too: dormant keys, complex custody chains, and cross-border links can all slow or block enforcement.
Analysts say recovery is possible in some cases, but it is rarely quick or simple. If another large tranche of coins were to be moved into markets, it could create pressure similar to what was seen after the mid-2024 disposals.
At the same time, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has warned that Bitcoin is volatile and compared its surge behavior to Tulip Mania – a financial bubble that happened in the Dutch Republic during the early 1600s. It’s often called the first recorded speculative bubble in history.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
