The government of Finland has sold 1,889.1 BTC that it seized from drug rings in the country. This was reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday. The report says that the country realized more than the value that it anticipated following the liquidation.

Court Ordered Liquidation

The report says that the liquidation of the coins followed a court ruling that gave the government authority to take over the forfeited coins.

The country’s customs realized €46.5 million (S$66 million) from the sale which was concluded with the collaboration of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

Drug busts and seizure of cryptocurrencies has become increasingly common as many criminal gangs now depend on digital assets as a form of payment.

2018 Seizure from Drug Bust

The bulk of the coins sold by the government in Helsinki was seized in 2018 and would have been valued US$130 million (S$181 million) if it was sold at the peak of Bitcoin price last year. The government made no attempt to sell the coins in 4 years, but made the move at the time the coin market was bearish.

The report says that the Finnish customs asked for bids from exchanges last July. It settled for two cryptocurrency exchanges in April.

Previous Sale of Seized Coins

Confiscated BTC has been at the center of debates in the past. The US Justice Department and the US Marshall Services were the first agencies to sell confiscated coins from criminal activities in 2014.

More BTC Awaiting Court Decisions

According to Bloomberg, the Finnish customs is still in possession of 90 bitcoins seized from criminal gangs in the country. These are awaiting court orders before being sold.