The Finnish Customs Service will select cryptocurrency brokers to sell bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies seized from criminals worth more than $ 78 million.
According to a statement from the Finnish Customs, the agency is looking for performers to sell cryptocurrencies confiscated for the benefit of the state from criminals, mainly drug dealers. Registration for participation in the tender for cryptocurrency brokers is open until August 30, 2021.
“We ask interested operators to take part in the tender. Our goal is to create a permanent procedure by which we can safely and reliably sell cryptocurrencies confiscated for the benefit of the state in the future. The selected operator must, for example, fully comply with the requirements of the cryptocurrency legislation, ”said Pekka Pylkkänen, director of financial management at the Finnish Customs.
According to the statement, the companies invited to participate in tenders must fully demonstrate their reliability. The tender will be organized on the basis of a competitive negotiation procedure, whereby customs will select no more than five candidates. Selected candidates must be cryptocurrency brokers who are registered with the broker registry in their country, have experience selling large batches of cryptocurrencies, and can demonstrate anti-money laundering and buyer verification procedures.
The purpose of the tender is to select from one to three candidates for the sale of cryptocurrencies confiscated by customs. The competition is being held throughout the EU.
The Finnish customs service announced plans to sell 1,981 BTC, which were confiscated from drug-related criminals, in January. Finland set the rules for storing and selling confiscated bitcoins back in February 2018. In the spring of 2019, the country’s customs service was resolving the issue of the confiscated 1,666 BTC – the authorities feared that in the event of a sale, crypto assets could end up in the hands of criminals.
Perhaps the confiscated cryptocurrencies are partially related to last year’s operation to close the darknet market Sipulimarket. In December, his assets were confiscated by Finnish customs in cooperation with Europol and the Polish police.
