Benzinga - Influencer and ex-kick boxer Andrew Tate and his brother’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) holdings were reportedly seized by Romanian authorities in mid-February.
What Happened: Tate was incarcerated in Romania facing charges of human trafficking and rape after being arrested.
Mateea Petrescu, a spokesperson for Tate and his brother Tristan told Decrypt that, in addition to the arrests, hardware wallets containing a combined 21 Bitcoins, worth approximately $467,625, were confiscated.
Petrescu said Andrew Tate's wallet contained five Bitcoin — currently valued at around $111,339 — while Tristan's wallet held 16 Bitcoin.
Authorities in Romania have seized millions of dollars worth of luxury cars, homes, and watches belonging to Tate.
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It should be noted that Tate had been outspoken about Bitcoin and its potential.
In a podcast late last year with Anthony Pompliano, Tate said “It's one of the simplest ways to take charge of your finances and move money quickly and securely. "With Bitcoin, you can actually control and own your money," he noted. "Think about how hard it used to be to move large sums of cash around - no problem with Bitcoin!”
Tate in the same podcast also revealed returns he's earned from his crypto investments: "[I] turned $600,000 into $12 million,” he said.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $29,426.23, up 3.6% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
This story was originally published on Feb. 15, 2023.
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