On Thursday, the customs service of the Finland government, Finnish Customs (Tulli) disclosed the sale of Bitcoins that were legally forfeited. As per the announcement, the state has raised 46.5 million euros in total with its sale of Bitcoin. At the time of writing, the top currency was trading at $22,734.23, up by 2.66% in the 24 hours.
Disclosing the details about the seizure, the customs service said the bitcoins were annexed in narcotics and doping substance-related offenses. The announcement further noted that the two cryptocurrency brokers chosen by Customs made the sale. The platforms sold the tokens, “through a competitive negotiated procedure in late spring.”
At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at $22,874, down 10% over the last seven days but up 14.4% in the past 30 days. Finnish Customs still possess 90 Bitcoin as they anticipate “a valid judgment of forfeiture.” Furthermore, Tulli revealed it has also forfeited other crypto assets. But the details of the currencies can’t be disclosed yet because of the ongoing investigation in these cases. However, Finnish Customs did say that at max. these assets are worth hundreds of thousands of euros.”
Pekka Pylkkänen, Director at Tulli Finance, speaking to a Finnish news firm revealed the timeline of the forfeited Bitcoins. Pylkkänen disclosed these Bitcoins where these Bitcoins were seized in the summer following the arrest of Douppikauppa, a Finnish drug dealer. Douppikauppa was ordered to be sentenced to prison for several years by the Turku Court of Appeal in 2017.
Annika Saarikko, Finance Minister of Finland’s government, in a statement given in May said the proceeds from the sale of forfeited Bitcoin will go to Ukraine. Saarikko said the funds will be utilized for humanitarian causes. Pylkkänen now revealed that the funds are, “apparently going to Ukraine.”
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/24/finland-allocates-47-million-raised-through-sale-of-seized-bitcoins-to-ukraine/