Arkham Intelligence has flagged roughly 45,000 Bitcoin tied to the Movie2K piracy case that have not moved since 2019, a discovery that raises fresh questions about what was missed when German authorities handled the earlier seizures.
At current prices, those coins are worth nearly $5 billion, putting renewed scrutiny on Berlin’s choices last year.
Arkham Tracks Dormant Movie2K Holdings
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.
It appears that… pic.twitter.com/l0w0OkdU0H
— Arkham (@arkham) September 5, 2025
Government Sold Earlier Holdings At Lower Prices
Based on reports, the January 2024 seizure — close to 49,860 BTC — was liquidated at an average price of $57,900, generating about €2.64 billion, or roughly $2.90 billion.
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.
Legal And Technical Hurdles Remain
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.
Debate Over State Bitcoin Reserves
Joana Cotar, a German lawmaker and Bitcoin supporter, wrote an open letter urging a rethink. She argued that holding confiscated Bitcoin as a sovereign reserve could have produced far larger returns for the state.
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.
Other countries have taken different paths. Reports note that El Salvador recently shifted $678 million in Bitcoin into 14 wallets to guard against quantum risks while keeping the holdings visible on the blockchain.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
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