Arkham Intelligence Reports on Movie2K’s Bitcoin Holdings
Arkham Intelligence has disclosed that the piracy website Movie2K still possesses 45,000 BTC, which the German government “failed to seize” during a confiscation of nearly 50,000 BTC in early 2024.
In a tweet, Arkham indicated that it has pinpointed additional Bitcoin wallets likely associated with Movie2K, which was operational from 2008 to 2013.
The post detailed that the data platform and exchange claimed to have “found another cluster of Bitcoin” linked to the original seizure, with this new batch of BTC currently valued at $5 billion.
“We discovered a cluster of 45,000 Bitcoin that remained untouched from November 2013 until January 2019, when it was suddenly moved to new addresses,” mentioned by Arkham CEO Miguel Morel.
Morel further remarked that the “activity pattern” of the new cluster aligns “exactly” with the Bitcoin cluster seized by German authorities last year, noting that the movements of both clusters occurred “within days” of one another.
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“Additionally, both clusters share similar origins, having received their initial Bitcoin from the same defunct exchanges, Mt. Gox and AnxPro,” he stated.
Morel pointed out other similarities, including the types of addresses utilized and the amounts of Bitcoin maintained in each address.
“Based on these parallel behaviors and shared characteristics, we have extremely high confidence that this cluster belongs to Movie2K or its operators,” he concluded.
The German government infamously commenced the sale of its original cache of Movie2K Bitcoin in June 2024, at the time valued at just over $3 billion (€2.6 billion).
During that time, the Dresden prosecutor referred to the haul as “unprecedented.” Had the government postponed their sales until today, they could have realized revenues of $5.62 billion.
A spokesperson for the agency informed us that it “in principle does not comment on investigations.”
The original seizure of 49,858 BTC occurred in January 2024 through a “voluntary transfer” from Movie2K’s operators.
Two individuals—one a Polish national and the other a German national—have been charged with copyright infringement, money laundering, and tax evasion related to the operations of Movie2K.
Both individuals have managed to secure suspended sentences, partially due to their confessions and the information they provided that helped identify additional suspects.
