Interesting case of cryptocurrency in Sweden: government will return a criminal his bitcoin worth more than Rs 11 crore!

The Swedish government has been forced to pay more than $1.5 million (about Rs 11 crore) in bitcoin to a drug dealer in a recent decision. This drug dealer earned these 36 bitcoins from illegally selling drugs in 2019. He was imprisoned for this crime. Prosecutor Tov Cullberg had previously succeeded in arguing in court that the unnamed man should have been deprived of his 36 bitcoins, reportedly SEK 1.3 million (about Rs 1 crore) at the time, which he claimed for the illegal sale of drugs. . by means of

However, the price of bitcoin skyrocketed after it was confiscated from the man. When the Swedish enforcement authority started to auction 36 bitcoins, they had to sell only three to increase the amount requested due to the increased value of the cryptocurrency. In other words, 36 bitcoins from drug dealers in 2019 are now worth only three bitcoins.

According to a report in The Telegraph, Kulberg admitted the mistake and told Swedish radio: “It’s unfortunate in many ways.” “It has led to results that I could not have imagined at the time,” she said. Now the authority will have to return 33 of the remaining bitcoins which are now worth more than $1.5 million (approximately Rs 111.33 lakh). Kulberg said it was the first case of its kind in Swedish legal history. Bitcoin was confiscated at a time when there was no precedent in court over watching cryptocurrency gains.

“The lesson to be learned from this is that in order to keep your money in bitcoin, the profit from the crime has to be 36 bitcoins, regardless of the bitcoin’s value at the time,” Cullberg said. He also suggested steps to invest in “inner education” at the prosecution. This will make for a better course of legal proceedings as the number of cases related to cryptocurrencies may increase in the future. “The more we increase the level of knowledge within the organization, the fewer mistakes we will make,” says Cullberg.