by bufferoverflow on 2/5/21, 1:07 PM
$60M for a few years in prison is something most people in this world would happily take.
Looks like they didn't seize anything, and he controls the coins.
With that amount of money he can get out of their jurisdiction and live a really nice life.
by vollmond on 2/5/21, 1:03 PM
> Prosecutors have ensured the man cannot access the largesse, however.
Ah yes, they've ensured he didn't memorize 12 words before they arrested him. Simple.
by jarym on 2/5/21, 1:04 PM
In the UK there's legislation (RIPA) that would probably result you staying in jail until you came up with the passwords or convinced a judge you genuinely couldn't for some reason.
by convery on 2/5/21, 1:35 PM
Stories like these are so scary because encryption is(/should be) indistinguishable from random data. Imagine being accused of some crime and the police finds a USB drive formatted by overwriting it with random data. Then the prosecutor, not having found any evidence for what you're accused of, decides to fuck you over by saying the drive contains billions in bitcoin or CP but you refuse to decrypt it.
by nolim1t on 2/5/21, 1:10 PM
They didn't really seize anything.. Not your keys not your coins
by rsiqueira on 2/5/21, 1:14 PM
The article says why the fraudster was sentenced: "The fraudster had been sentenced to more than two years in jail for covertly installing software on other computers to harness their power to mine or produce bitcoin."
by HPsquared on 2/5/21, 1:20 PM
Is there precedent for this kind of situation? Cryptocurrency is unlike most assets which are either physical (can be seized) or held in a ledger managed by some legal entity (which can be ordered to transfer it freeze the asset).
A Bitcoin private key is neither of those things, essentially it's a valuable piece of information (intellectual property perhaps?), of which copies may exist.
by kevingadd on 2/5/21, 1:01 PM
How could they guarantee he can't access it if he didn't give them the password? They can't transfer it
by rax0m on 2/5/21, 1:23 PM
Can one "own" a number?
A private key is simply a number < 2^256. Knowing the specific number gives control of the bitcoin.
Either one cannot really own bitcoin, or bitcoin has proven that knowing is owning.
by peignoir on 2/5/21, 1:26 PM
Assuming he has his password in mind I wonder if he could find a legal solution with the help of a well paid lawyer. Maybe a settlement etc…
by jrootabega on 2/5/21, 1:08 PM
Pretty standard low-tech-accuracy clickbaity article. I didn't realize Reuters did those, but I haven't paid attention in a while.
So what exactly did they seize? If it wasn't a brainwallet, or was a physical device that they believe had no backups, the story would make more sense. Would have been pretty easy to include that info.
Also, if they have ensured the guy can't access it, like the article says, then this goes beyond seizure. They just want the money for themselves.
by midjji on 2/5/21, 1:22 PM
Assuming he has a copy of the wallet, the btc wont be there for long.
by hehehaha on 2/5/21, 1:22 PM
Yet another reason why BTC is money launderer’s preferred asset.
by EGreg on 2/5/21, 1:00 PM
How would they ensure that LOL
by slipper1 on 2/5/21, 1:09 PM
Just destroy the bitcoin. Who cares.
by dandanua on 2/5/21, 1:27 PM
Don't fall for the idea of Bitcoin usefulness because of that. If he would deal with another criminals then cryptorectal thermoanalysis would retrieve the key easily. It just proves that Bitcoin is a perfect tool for all kind of criminals.