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Movie2k Bitcoin Case: Saxony Received 49,858 BTC, Later Sold for €2.639 Billion

Saxony received about 49,858 Bitcoin in the Movie2k case in January 2024, then sold the coins for €2.639 billion. The sale proceeds and a later, separate forfeiture are not the same money.
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The Movie2k case involved a transfer of about 49,858 Bitcoin to Saxon authorities on 16 January 2024—not a €2 billion cash payment. Saxony valued the coins at about €1.96 billion at the time. Prosecutors later sold them for €2,639,683,413.92, and said the proceeds remained provisionally secured for the criminal proceedings.

What happened to the Bitcoin?

On 16 January 2024, approximately 49,858 BTC were transferred to Saxon authorities. Their reported value on that date was about €1.96 billion. Between 19 June and 12 July 2024, the authorities sold the coins and reported proceeds of €2,639,683,413.92. These are different valuations at different dates: the second figure is the amount raised by the later sale, not the value of a €2 billion cash transfer.

The Dresden prosecutor’s office said the sale proceeds were provisionally secured for the criminal case. It did not describe them as state-budget revenue or say they had been definitively forfeited. The office said at the time that the final confiscation decision could not yet be predicted. Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden, 16 July 2024.

Why did Saxony sell the coins before the case ended?

The Dresden prosecutor characterized the sale as an emergency sale under section 111p of Germany’s Code of Criminal Procedure. The provision allows an asset to be sold if it risks significant loss in value or if storage involves substantial costs or difficulty; the proceeds take the place of the asset.

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Prosecutors cited Bitcoin’s rapid price changes as a risk of substantial loss and said they could not postpone an urgent sale to speculate on a possible price increase. The office quoted section 111p(1) StPO: “Der Erlös tritt an die Stelle des veräußerten Gegenstandes”—“The proceeds take the place of the item sold.” The Dresden prosecutor’s release on the sale.

What is the Movie2k case about?

Movie2k.to was described by Saxon authorities as a German piracy portal that operated through May 2013. In a 2020 investigation announcement, authorities alleged that its operators and others distributed more than 880,000 pirated film copies and ran an illegal streaming service. They said proceeds from advertising and subscription traps were used to buy Bitcoin. Those figures and descriptions are allegations in that announcement, not findings about every copy or every person involved. Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden, 4 August 2020.

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In April 2024, the Dresden prosecutor announced an indictment against a 40-year-old German alleged main operator and a 37-year-old Polish associate. The release described alleged copyright offenses and money laundering, among other charges. At that point, the Leipzig Regional Court still had to decide whether to open the main proceedings; an indictment is not a conviction. Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden, 17 April 2024.

What has the court decided, and what remains unresolved?

A Saxon government release dated 29 June 2026 reported that a Berlin real-estate broker was convicted on 28 April 2026 of money laundering in 33 cases between 2013 and 2018. The court imposed a suspended 10-month sentence and ordered forfeiture of €2,511,922.91. The release said the 116-page judgment was final. It also said proceedings against another main Movie2k operator remained before the Leipzig Regional Court. That is the status reported on 29 June 2026, not confirmation of any later docket developments. Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden, 29 June 2026.

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The €2,511,922.91 forfeiture is a separate order concerning the convicted broker. It is not a ruling on the disposition of the much larger Bitcoin-sale proceeds.

How the key amounts differ

Amount What it refers to
About €1.96 billion Reported value of approximately 49,858 BTC when transferred to Saxon authorities on 16 January 2024.
€2,639,683,413.92 Sale proceeds reported by Saxon prosecutors for the emergency sale conducted from 19 June to 12 July 2024; held provisionally for the criminal proceedings.
€2,511,922.91 Separate forfeiture ordered in the broker case, reported in June 2026; not the Bitcoin-sale proceeds.

The first two figures come from the Dresden prosecutor’s 2024 sale announcement; the third is from its 2026 broker-case announcement.

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Who handled the transfer and sale?

“Saxony police” is shorthand for a process involving several authorities. The Saxon prosecution service handled the transaction with a specialized bank and support from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA); Saxon police were involved in the investigation. The prosecutor’s description of the sale is available in its 16 July 2024 announcement.

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