German authorities may have missed around 45,000 Bitcoin tied to the movie piracy site Movie2K, meaning there could be another $5 billion worth of Bitcoin that could eventually be seized and sold.

Crypto intelligence platform Arkham said on Friday that it found more than 45,000 Bitcoin (BTC) that “still remains in wallets belonging to Movie2K,” which is worth “almost as much as the amount seized” last year by Germany.

German police seized nearly 50,000 BTC in January 2024, which it sold later that year, just months before the cryptocurrency's price went on to nearly double in value.

The country has been derided for missing out on billions of dollars’ worth of additional money by selling the Bitcoin when it did, but prosecutors explained at the time that local laws dictate that they must quickly sell volatile assets such as cryptocurrencies to avoid a risk of loss.

Over 100 wallets holding potentially missed Bitcoin

Arkham said the new stash of Bitcoin, which its platform shows is 45,060 BTC, was “connected to earlier Movie2K movements and addresses.”

“This is most likely still under the control of the Movie2K operators. It has not moved since 2019, and is split across over 100 Bitcoin wallets,” it added.

A cluster of wallets that Arkham claimed are connected to addresses tied to Movie2K. Source: Arkham