There were a lot of speculations regarding the
213000 bitcoins confiscated by the Bulgarian Government authorities back in 2017.
Everything started after >
After 5 years of questioning did this really happened, the Ministry of Finance came with an answer of the question whether there were any coins/seeds/passwords confiscated.
Here is the research article of the
ClubZ.bg newspaper you can use a translator to read it.
I'll put some parts translated with google :
In short, the Ministry of Finance "has no information on bitcoins confiscated or confiscated in favor of the state." They added that the inspection was carried out at a time when Asen Vassilev was only a caretaker minister. He ordered the NRA and the Customs Agency to seek answers.
In addition to the inspection, by letters dated 11-02-151 dated 05.07.2021 and 03.08.2021, the Minister of Finance requested the Prosecutor General to check whether the Bulgarian state owns 213,519 bitcoins. On August 24, 2021, a response was received from the Deputy Prosecutor General at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office, stating that the Specialized Prosecutor's Office did not seize and store 213,519 bitcoins, "reads the letter from the Ministry of Finance to us.
Meanwhile, it became clear today that the MP from "Democratic Bulgaria" Ivaylo Mirchev has requested detailed information from Minister Boyko Rashkov about the fate of the alleged bitcoins.
Ivaylo Mirchev wants the Interior Minister to get an answer whether pre-trial proceedings have been instituted, whether an indictment has been filed in court, how many bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies have been seized in the investigation, where bitcoins are stored - online platform / exchange, hot wallet ( wallet on a computer connected to the Internet), on a cold wallet (wallet on a device separate from the computer that does not have an Internet connection) or on other media.
"Do the investigating authorities have the necessary private keys and keywords to recover these private keys in order to dispose of seized bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, has any evidence been disposed of so far and if so, what order, when and for what reason, are they currently available as evidence in the case and are they available to the prosecutor's office? ”asks Mirchev, who will also expect information from the Minister of Electronic Government Bozhidar Bojanov.
I will follow the case and see it there's any new information coming out anytime soon and I'll keep you updated.
My personal opinion is that the Government never had control over any bitcoins at all, they maybe had the public address of the wallets holding them but never had access to them.
