Finland Customs Plans to Sell Nearly 2,000 Confiscated Bitcoins After 60x Growth in Four Years without HODLing!

The Finnish Customs, Tulli, seized 1,889 bitcoins from a drug dealer in 2016. The value of the bitcoins has surged since then as the price of bitcoin was only $600 at the time of seizure, now valued at $76 million at the time of writing. The department is currently in discussions with the Finnish Ministry of Finance and is considering using the proceeds from the sale of the bitcoins to provide Covid-19 vaccines for over 4 million Finnish citizens.

Customs Unexpectedly Becomes a Hodler

It was reported last February that the Finnish Customs, a department under the Ministry of Finance, had confiscated 1,666 bitcoins from drug dealers as early as 2016. According to local mediareport, the Customs now holds 1,889 bitcoins and has been contemplating how to dispose of this batch of bitcoins.

Possibly due to bias or misunderstanding towards bitcoins, at that time the Finnish Customs was reluctant to auction off the bitcoins for fear of violating anti-money laundering regulations and allowing the assets to fall back into the hands of criminals. Pekka Pylkkänen, the financial director of the Finnish Customs, believed at the time that the use of bitcoins was limited to illegal activities:

In our view, these issues are specifically related to the risk of money laundering, as few online buyers use them for legitimate activities.

Bitcoin for 4 Million Vaccine Doses

With the recent surge in the price of Bitcoin, the Finnish Customs seemed to reconsider the issue, and after discussions, decided to sell them, with Pylkkänen also showing a change in stance, stating :

Bitcoin, independent of central banks and national authorities, is a completely legal currency and can also be used as an investment commodity. However, the risk of being used in the criminal market still exists. According to customs regulations, we have no choice but to sell them. We have discussed the fate of these cryptocurrencies with the Ministry of Finance and will handle them in collaboration with partner institutions. Once the specific selling procedures are determined, relevant parties will be notified.

According toReuters' review of an internal EU document, the EU has agreed to purchase 300 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine at a price of 15.50 euros (18.90 US dollars) per dose. Based on this cost estimate, the proceeds from the sale of bitcoins by the Finnish Customs could provide vaccines for over 4 million people in the country.