The North Rhine-Westphalian judiciary began auctioning confiscated Bitcoin for the first time.
The data packets of the digital cryptocurrency mainly come from drug trafficking on the Darknet, prosecutors reported on Monday in Cologne.
They had been confiscated and confiscated from criminals.
NRW Minister of Justice Peter Biesenbach (CDU) started the first auction.
Cologne - Shortly after the start of the two-day online auctions, the first tranches were already above the current market price of the digital currency, which was just under 54,000 euros per Bitcoin (BTC) on Monday lunchtime.
The NRW Justice wants to offer a total of 215 Bitcoin with a current value of a good 11 million euros on its own auction portal.
The proceeds go to the state treasury.
The North Rhine-Westphalia Justice also makes its auction portal available to other federal states.
dpa