Key Takeaways
- Police within the Netherlands seized an unspecified variety of NFTs and cryptocurrencies in an investigation this week.
- The seizure marks the primary time that Dutch police have seized non-fungible tokens, however not cryptocurrency.
- Dutch police seized €35 million ($39 million) of crypto final yr, whereas different nations have made related seizures.
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Police within the Netherlands seized cryptocurrency and NFTs throughout an investigation into unlawful information gross sales this week in a primary for that nation.
Crypto and NFTs Have been Seized
Dutch police have seized NFTs and crypto property, in line with a statement from the nation’s regulation enforcement dated Mar. 30.
The article says that Dutch police seized these tokens as a part of an ongoing investigation into the unlawful commerce of personal information.
Two male suspects, 23 and 19 years outdated, have been arrested this week as they’re suspected to have bought non-public information to be used in scams and fraud. Police stated that they discovered “a considerable amount of information” and decided that the staff had been in operation for years.
Dutch police didn’t reveal the quantity of cryptocurrency that they seized. Nevertheless, earlier figures point out that Dutch police seized €35 million ($39 million) in cryptocurrencies final yr.
Police additionally didn’t point out the variety of NFTs that have been seized or their market worth. As a substitute, they famous that NFTs are sometimes excessive worth, and are in “some circumstances price thousands and thousands of euros.”
First NFT Seizure for the Netherlands
Police added that this seizure marks “the primary time that NFTs have been seized by a Dutch investigative service.”
Although that is the primary seizure of its variety within the Netherlands, no less than one different nation has made an analogous seizure. The U.Ok. made its first seizure of NFTs this yr in a $1.9 million tax fraud case.
In the meantime, seizures of cryptocurrencies are commonplace, each within the Netherlands and globally. In February, U.S. authorities seized $3.6 billion of Bitcoin associated to the Bitfinex hack. In November, the U.Ok. seized $667,000 of crypto linked to Silk Highway.
Over $14 trillion of cryptocurrencies and $23 billion of NFTs circulated final yr. Regulation enforcement will doubtless monitor these property much more carefully if and when buying and selling volumes enhance.
Disclosure: On the time of writing, the writer of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and different cryptocurrencies.