Spain Raid on Largest Manga Piracy Site Uncovers Crypto Wallets Hidden in Thermometer

Police in Spain have seized two crypto cold wallets containing around €400,000 (AU$655k) during a raid on the headquarters of the country’s largest illegal Spanish-language manga distribution platform. 

The platform gave users access to pirated Japanese and Korean comics and graphic novels, collectively known as manga. It had been under investigation by Spanish law enforcement since mid 2025 following a complaint from rights holders, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

Authorities in the port city of Almería, located in South-eastern Spain, arrested three individuals in connection with the illegal manga and seized the two crypto cold wallets, which were hidden inside wall thermometers. 

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, the illegal manga distribution platform had been active for around a decade, generating approximately €4 million (AU$6.55m) — mostly through advertising revenue, as access to the pirated manga was free. It’s not known if Spanish authorities have been able to access the cryptocurrency stored on the cold wallets.

The seizure of a substantial value of cryptocurrency held on hardware wallets in this case reflects the growing use of cold wallets by criminals, even those whose crimes are not directly related to crypto or Web3.

Related: Crypto Scam Kingpin Gets 23 Years for Fake $45B Art-Backed Token

Manga Platform Not Named, But One Has Recently Gone Offline

Spanish authorities haven’t named which platform they took down, but piracy news website TorrentFreak reported recently that a Spanish-language site known as Tu Manga Online (TMO) has gone offline following legal pressure from Korean rights holders.

The Korean copyright enforcement agency COA and the global anti-piracy firm IP House have both confirmed their role in TMO’s take-down and also confirmed Spanish police were involved.

Related: Man Charged in Crypto Exchange Hacks Faces Up to 30 Years

Research by the firm Deepsee found that TMO generated a billion views in November of 2024 alone through several different domain names.

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