Afterward a lengthy joint investigation with the American FBI, German language police force accept seized over 25 millions euros worth of cryptocurrency associated with the illegal movie streaming site movie2k.to.

Shuttered in spring 2022 due to copyright infringement concerns, the site's two main operators are accused of having distributed over 880,000 pirated copies of films, together with their accomplices, via the site between fall 2022 and jump 2022. They have been charged with operating an illegal streaming service, which enabled users to watch pirated films without downloading them.

One of the two, who worked as the site's programmer, has been in police custody since Nov 2022.

Streaming site acquirement was used to acquire Bitcoin and real estate

On Aug. three, the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Part, supported past the Country Criminal Law Office in Saxony and the Leipzig Tax Investigation Section appear that the programmer had cooperated in forfeiting over 25 million euros ($29.vi 1000000) worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Since mid-2012, the two primary operators are alleged to take used profits from advertizement fees on movie2k.to and subscription revenue to buy large amounts of Bitcoin.

The site's developer is alleged to have acquired in backlog of 22,000 BTC from this, later using the crypto primarily to acquire various properties via a Berlin real estate house.

He is besides reportedly under suspicion of commercial money laundering in connexion with his activities as a real estate entrepreneur in Berlin.

Tracing and identifying the associated Bitcoin was reportedly carried out through joint investigative work between the German Federal Criminal Police Office and the FBI.

The forfeited Bitcoin has been seized as impairment reparation by the public prosecutor after their voluntary release by the defendant.

The developer has now comprehensively confessed to the charges and is reported to be supporting  law enforcement authorities in their further investigations into the 2nd main operator, who remains on the run.

As German newspaper Der Spiegel has reported, movie2k.to was — alongside kino.to and neu.to — one of the world's leading platforms for the distribution of illegal pirated movies for years .

In 2022, the primary founder and operator of kino.to was sentenced to a prison house term of up to iv and a half years.