Tulli, Finland's customs authority, has seen its Bitcoin holdings shrink by almost €50 million following a crypto crash, according to a May 26 report by Helsingin Sanomat.
It holds 1,981 Bitcoins that are worth over €62.9 million at press time. It is yet to sell any.
Bitcoin soared to a new all-time high of $64,895 on April 14 before crashing as low as $30,000 last week.
CFO Pekka Pylkkänen claims that he does not actively monitor Bitcoin prices but sometimes checks exchanges "out of curiosity":
The price will surely fluctuate. Some suspect that the price will reach $100,000 the year. Others say that the value will collapse. Personally, I don't have expertise in this.
Alex DovbnyaNo rush
Tulli's plans to cash out its Bitcoin stash date back to 2018, but it was hesitant to sell because it feared that the confiscated coins would once again end up in the hands of bad actors.
In January, it finally announced its plan to sell its holdings through an intermediary, but the sale is now stretching into its fifth month.
Preparations for the sale will now continue for five consecutive months with no further comments on the liquidation schedule.
Previously, Tulli weighed the option of handing its Bitcoins to another government agency.
The vast majority of Finland's Bitcoin riches come from the bust of infamous drug dealer Douppikauppa that took place in 2016.
Tomiwabold Olajide
Valeria Blokhina
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
Vladislav Sopov