After grabbing Bitcoin, the state's attorneys Utah are in a hurry to sell the precious cryptocurrency.

A year ago, Aaron Shamo, 27, was arrested in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, on charges of drug trafficking. According to Time Magazine, he was involved in selling opioid-containing pills in a dark web market.

The pills contained synthetic opioid fentanyl, responsible for a number of overdose deaths worldwide. It is so powerful that US authorities consider it a tool to execute death row inmates.

At the time of his arrest, authorities seized $ 500,000 worth of Bitcoin from Shamo. Due to the substantial growth of Bitcoin this year, the confiscated amount is now worth $ 8.5 million.

As to why the authorities want to sell now, in court documents, the US Attorney's Office for Utah cites the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Federal prosecution spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said the proceeds from the Bitcoin auction will be kept until the end of the case. Historically, the investigating authority generally holds funds from auctioning seized property

Shamo pleaded not guilty to the charges and his lawyer Greg Skordas will not dispute the sale of the seized Bitcoin .

Similar Scenarios in the World

Earlier this week, Cointelegraph reported that the Bulgarian authorities had also seized a massive amount of Bitcoin from a criminal investigation. In this case, the European country had hit "digital gold", with more than 200,000 Bitcoin confiscated, about $ 4 billion or a quarter of the country's national debt.