PANews reported on July 17 that according to Decrypt, German law enforcement agencies netted about $2.88 billion (2.639 billion euros) through the "emergency sale" of nearly 50,000 bitcoins. These bitcoins were originally seized in January in an investigation of German and Polish nationals suspected of operating pirated websites and money laundering, and were worth about $2.1 billion at the time. Currently, the relevant trial is still ongoing, and the proceeds will be kept by the Free State of Saxony until the criminal proceedings are finally concluded.

The sale, which took place between June 19 and July 12, was a collaboration between the Saxony Police Department, the Dresden Prosecutor's Office and German trading house Bankhaus Scheich. As required by law, law enforcement agencies must conduct emergency sales when they determine that Bitcoin may depreciate significantly (more than 10%). On-chain data from blockchain analysis company Arkham Intelligence shows that these Bitcoins were sold through centralized exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase, as well as over-the-counter trading companies such as Flow Traders and Cumberland DRW.