The story of a drug dealer and his BTC in Sweden

Sweden must return 33 BTC to the drug dealer

According to the local press, this is the first case of seizures of cryptocurrencies in the country. However, the plaintiff, who confirmed the takeover of the cryptocurrency, recorded the confiscated amount in dollars, and the government now has to repay the amount due to price fluctuations. This turns out to be much higher than the amount recorded.

Here, then, we can speak of the speculative profit on the part of the offender, realized through the seizure of the court. The man was caught selling drugs online and accepting payments in BTC. Tove Kullberg, the prosecutor, decided to use the value of BTC in fiat currency. The choice was clearly a mistake, with the court paying the drug dealer $ 1.5 million after his release.

Because the price of BTC was much lower two years ago than it is today, the man’s earnings from the drug trade were about $ 100,000. The court ruled that this was an amount that should be taken from the drug dealer as compensation for his crime. But over time, the price of BTC soared when the Swedish judicial authority commissioned a drug dealer to auction coins, they only had to sell 3 BTCs to get the $ 100,000 he had to pay.

This now allows the dealer to receive 33 of the original 36 BTCs, which are currently worth around $ 1.5 million, and this amount must be legally returned to its owner.

Lack of expertise in cryptocurrency

The public prosecutor admitted his mistake and stated:

“The way I decided to argue in the case was quite unfortunate. The lesson from this incident is that you must enter a value in BTC. The profit from the crime was 36 BTC, according to the value BTC had at the time. “

The plaintiff described the incident as unfortunate and pointed to a lack of expertise regarding cryptocurrencies and digital currencies associated with crime. Kullberg is now committed to investing in education. He also pointed out that as cryptocurrencies are increasingly used, law enforcement agencies should invest well in training their staff on cryptocurrencies:

“The more we increase the level of knowledge within the organization, the less mistakes we will make.”

Sweden has long been one of the most advanced countries when it comes to digital currencies and payments. A few months ago, a trial operation of the digital state currency e-krona, which could see the light of day in 2022, also began. In Sweden, in 2020, only 10% of cash payments are made.

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