The country’s customs officials seized the cryptocurrency in connection with several illegal operations. The country began looking into using Bitcoin as a means to help Ukraine back in March but has drawn mixed reactions from the crypto market.
A Donation Worth Millions
Finland’s government outlined plans to donate “tens of millions” in seized Bitcoin to Ukraine, helping it with its war against Russia. The country’s finance minister made the announcement late on Wednesday. Finland is currently in the custody of 1981 BTC worth nearly $77 million, seized during operations by the country’s Customs department.
The Finnish Customs had announced a plan to auction off the seized Bitcoin, most of which dates back to a significant haul in 2016, thanks to a drug bust in which officials seized 1666 BTC. The value of the seized BTC was around $739,315 at the time, with current prices putting the value closer to $65 million.
The donation is expected to take some time, with the plan yet to be presented to the country’s parliament during the upcoming supplementary budget.
Finance minister Annika Saarikko tweeted,
“The government will donate tens of millions to help Ukraine thanks to the proceeds from the sale of Finnish Customs’ confiscated Bitcoin.”
She further added that the decision was right and proper.
Sale To Be Carried Out Through Coinmotion And Tesseract
Finnish Customs officials shed further light on the sale details, stating that Finnish Customs had selected Finland-based digital asset firms Tesseract and Coinmotion to carry out the sale. Officials indicated that they were satisfied with the due diligence followed by firms and their “procedures to prevent money laundering and investigate the buyer’s background.”
Donated Amount Yet To Be Decided
Finance minister Saarikko did not specify the exact amount that would be donated to Ukraine, but sources that had earlier confirmed the proposed donation revealed that the plan was to donate a significant portion towards Ukraine’s war effort, estimated to be around $77 million. Ukraine has already received substantial donations in cryptocurrency worth millions since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February.
The authorities will not be able to donate all of the BTC held by them as some legal proceedings are still underway. Director of Finances, Pekka Pylkkänen stated,
“Our current intention is to make available to brokers for liquidation the legally enforceable virtual currencies held by Customs, around 1,890 Bitcoin, during the spring or early summer. The money will be remitted to the state as usual, as will all other assets seized by Customs.”
Ukraine Actively Seeking Donations
Ukraine has actively sought donations to fund its defense against the Russian invasion. The official campaign, Aid for Ukraine, has revealed that it has received cryptocurrency donations worth over $60 million, including 457.5 BTC. The government has already spent over $42 million of the donations on items such as drones, helmets, body armor, and other equipment.
The country has received significant help from all quarters and has even launched a Meta History Museum and Warline NFT Collection.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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