Police in Germany have announced the largest seizure of Bitcoin in the country’s history.

The Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday in a statement said that it had seized 50,000 stolen Bitcoin worth over $2.1 billion.

The assets were confiscated as part of an investigation carried out by the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office along with the Saxony State Criminal Police Office, and the Leipzig II Tax Office's tax investigation department, with support from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the FBI, and a Munich-based forensic IT expert firm.

The statement said that two men aged 40 and 37 had operated a leading German piracy portal until May 2013 and allegedly converted the proceeds into Bitcoin. One of the suspects voluntarily transferred the Bitcoin to the BKA as part of the investigation.

No official charges have been filed, but authorities are investigating potential commercial money laundering offences, the statement said, adding that a final decision regarding the utilisation of the seized Bitcoin is yet to be made.

This is one of the largest seizures of Bitcoin in history, though is significantly lower than the record $3.6 billion confiscated by the US Department of Justice in 2016 that was linked to the hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

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