German authorities seized $25 million in bitcoin (BTC) after shutting down one of the world's largest darknet markets, Hydra Market.
The cybercrime unit of the Frankfurt prosecutor's office and the federal criminal police seized 543 BTC Tuesday while "securing" the site's servers.
The market brought in €1.23 billion ($1.35 billion) in 2020, police said.
The Russian-language marketplace also had a built-in bitcoin privacy mixer, the police said.
Forensic blockchain firm Ciphertrace says the market was mainly used for narcotics.The investigation began in August 2021, police said.