German authorities have arrested a far-right extremist suspected of operating a darknet platform that called for attacks on politicians and offered cryptocurrency bounties for their assassinations, federal prosecutors said.
Martin S., a 49-year-old dual German-Polish citizen, was detained late on Monday in the western city of Dortmund, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Public broadcaster ARD, citing security sources, reported that he is believed to have links to the far-right Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) movement, which rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state.
According to prosecutors, Martin S. had been running an anonymous darknet forum since at least June 2025, where he published so-called “death sentences” against elected officials and public figures, along with bomb-making instructions and private data of targeted individuals.
Cryptocurrency as payment
The suspect allegedly encouraged users to donate cryptocurrency, which he promised would be used as rewards for those who killed the listed targets.
Prosecutors said the suspect is under strong suspicion of “financing terrorism, inciting serious acts of violence endangering the state, and unlawfully disseminating personal data.”
Authorities did not release the names of specific individuals or politicians targeted through the platform, nor details on the volume of cryptocurrency donations received.
The arrest comes amid heightened concern in Germany over violent extremism linked to the far-right, particularly among Reichsburger adherents, some of whom have been accused of plotting attacks on government institutions.
