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Crypto traders aren’t the only ones benefiting from the market rally which say Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) set new all-time highs. One New Jersey earned a windfall when it recently liquidated Bitcoin seized three years ago, which has almost tripled in value.
The forfeiture and liquidation of the seized Bitcoin in 2018 were announced by Monmouth County’s prosecutor’s office. According to the announcement, the BTC stash, which was valued at around $57,000 at that, has nearly tripled to $198,000 when it was sold, according to NBC New York.
The cryptocurrency was seized during a 2018 illegal narcotics distribution raid in Long Branch. The confiscated BTC was frozen after it was determined that the digital assets were part of the profits made from drug sales.
The county filed a forfeiture complaint in 2019 after the suspect pleaded guilty. “The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office leads from the front on innovative law enforcement strategies and practices necessary in the emerging new crypto world,” Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said. “This will serve as an effective template for the state law enforcement agencies in the cryptocurrency market – a place where we can expect proceeds from crimes to continue to be concealed.”
However, this is not the first crypto seizure made by Monmouth County. In 2017, the county’s authorities launched what was then dubbed “Operation Plastic Army,” where 16 people were arrested for defrauding several financial institutions.
As part of the operations, authorities were also able to seized crypto assets valued at more than $200,000 at that time. The digital assets, which have not yet been liquidated, are now worth more than $1.25 million.
Authorities usually auction crypto assets seized due to criminal activities. In March, France auctioned 611 BTC, which was seized from hackers in 2019 and 2020 by the Agency for the Recovery and Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC), for $34 million. Courts seized the crypto in connection to the London-based Gatehub platform attack in 2019.
