Finnish Customs is going to sell the thousands of Bitcoins it seized in connection with dark web drug cases, this includes 1,666 BTC that were from the Finnish dark web vendor called Douppikauppa.
The Finnish customs agency, called Tulli, has decided to sell all of the coins totalling 1,981 Bitcoin worth $77 million. Custom agents seized most of the coins (1,666 BTC) when they arrested Douppikauppa. The Douppikauppa case happened in 2016. The value of the seized coins have increased 100x since Finnish customs seized the bitcoins in 2016.
Finnish customs contemplated selling the coins in 2018. However, they decided not to sell it in an attempt to keep it out of the hands of the dark web. Finnish customs also discussed the possibility of destroying the coins but they later determined that the best option was to sell the bitcoin.
In a statement to Finnish media, a Finnish customs official, Pekka Pylkkänen, said:
Customs has discussed ways forward with the Ministry of Finance for virtual currencies that have been confiscated by the state last year, and as a result of the discussions, Customs will realize virtual currencies. Customs is currently preparing the implementation procedure with the co-operation authorities and will inform about it once the concrete procedure has been specified. The money from the sale goes to the Finnish state, it does not go to Customs.
The Proceeds of the sale will be transferred to the Finnish Ministry of Finance.