<p>Finland's customs agency, Tulli, has 1,666 bitcoins (currently worth over $15 million) in its possession.</p> <p>The agency seized the bitcoins years ago in a major drug bust, but hasn't cashed it out yet, Finland's national public broadcasting firm Yle <a href="https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finnish_customs_sits_on_millions_in_seized_cryptocurrencies/11226949">reported</a> Tuesday. Tulli is concerned that if it sells the bitcoins, these could end up getting back in the hands of criminals.</p> <p>The agency had plans in 2018 to auction it off but eventually canceled the idea due to the concerns.</p> <p>"From our point of view, the problems are specifically related to the risk of money laundering. The buyers of [cryptocurrency] rarely use them for normal endeavours," Pekka Pylkkanen, finance director of Tulli, told Yle.</p> <p>Market observers may disagree with Pylkkanen's claim. A November report from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic <a href="https://www.elliptic.co/our-thinking/bitcoin-money-laundering">suggested</a> that $829 million, just 0.5% of all transactions, were linked to the dark web.</p> <p>If at all Tulli decides to sell off the bitcoins, the proceeds would go into the "state's bottomless treasury," said Pylkkanen.</p> <p>Just last week, the U.S. Marshals Service <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/56631/u-s-marshals-service-auctions-off-over-4000-btc-to-two-winning-bidders">auctioned off</a> over 4,000 bitcoins (worth ~$39 million) to two winning bidders. The Marshals Service has held a series of bitcoin auctions since 2014.</p>