The investigation executed by the authorities of the Netherlands had been following criminals who extracted a significant amount of personal data. Among the holdings were crypto and NFT funds traded in vast markets.
The authorities in the Netherlands executed a procedure against a group of cybercriminals, in which they seized digital assets and, for the first time, digital collectibles (NFT) under attackers’ control.
The information got revealed in a statement filed by the local police forces. The officials highlight that they confiscated said digital currencies as part of an ongoing investigation. They managed to find those responsible after relating them to the illegal trade of private data.
Data, Cryptocurrencies, and NFTs Seized
During the confiscation, two individuals, 23 and 19 years old, were captured and suspected of selling private data for scams and fraud. The authorities also highlighted that they found a vast amount of data, so the captured people had been committing this crime for years.
Regarding crypto funds, although the investigation does not unveil enough details about the total value of the assets, it showed that among the virtual belongings, there were also many NFTs. Authorities did not bring further information on the latter, but they did express that such items got quoted at a juicy price in their respective markets.
Very Valuable Items
Regarding NFTs, the authorities said that this was the first time they had ever confiscated this item in a routine procedure. In the region, only the United Kingdom has done something similar in an operation carried out this year, just as they were investigating tax fraud in which USD 1.9 million got extracted.
Experts think local and regional authorities will now be much more alert to the possession and marketing of such assets, especially given how lucrative their market is today. Last year the NFT environment experienced a trading volume of at least $23 billion in buy/sell trades, with some highly sought-after collections such as the CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club.
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a data unit housed on a blockchain or a digital ledger that can serve as an item ideal for selling and trading operations. NFTs may arrive as files created in digital such as pictures, videos, audio files, or artwork because each item possesses a unique identification. NFTs are not the same as blockchain crypto-assets.
NFT ledgers maintain they bring a public ownership certification, but the legal rights shifted by an NFT might be unclear. NFTs don’t pose restrictions over the sharing the digital files and do not transfer the copyright of items such as digital files.
NFTs have a slight potential to become speculative assets and have received many negative reviews due to the energy cost and carbon footprint linked to blockchain transactions procedures.
By: Jenson Nuñez
