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.
That depends where the convict has stored their private wallet key - and if it is accessible to him:
- Hardware wallets can be seized by the police and thus are worthless to both - the police can't access the funds without the password, the convict can't access the funds without the wallet.
- Similarly, on-disk wallets are worthless
- Brain wallets can be used in theory, but the police would instantly know if the convict did anything with them
In any case, the police statement that they "seized" a wallet containing the Bitcoins implies that it's either a hardware or on-disk wallet and that they are aware of the public key (otherwise, how would they know how many Bitcoin are in the wallet?).
Edit: 600m
Ah yes, they've ensured he didn't memorize 12 words before they arrested him. Simple.
We just think it's funny because in this case it's damaging the government, whereas it's usually the accused that suffers.
I've done this and the way I remember it is by typing it in to a piece of software I wrote to connect to the Bitcoin network every day to ensure I still have access.
No just kidding. I don't do that for Bitcoin, but I do have an encrypted dead man's switch that has such a password.
No, it's not a dead man's switch, it's just a bunch of documents that no one cares about.
OK fine, it's porn.
BUT. I do type it in every day.
> jail until you came up with the passwords
Actually is:
> Refusing to comply with RIPA can result in a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment, or five years in cases involving national security or child indecency.
I'd doubt not releasing a bitcoin wallet password is "withholding evidence" or "obstructing an investigation" in the same way as not giving the password to your 5TB child porn or terrorism related info hard drive
I can see the pragmatic arguments for such a law. But it’s unsettling nonetheless.
“We asked him but he didn’t say,” prosecutor Sebastian Murer told Reuters on Friday. “Perhaps he doesn’t know.”
That seems like something the defense could use...the prosecutor is openly admitting the defendant may not know the password.
Edit: Ah, never mind. Seems he already served his sentence.
Can this fly?
I'm not sure how many BTC he eventually mined, or if he ever wiped the mining pool off the PCs, but 10 years later, I know he has close to a $1M in various cryptos, so maybe he made out like a bandit.
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.
Sounds like the only way around it is to wait for the statue of limitations.
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.
Uh don’t forget that Big Media had altered the definition of stealing such that your statement is now wrong. Stealing (as in “don’t steal a movie”) no longer implies you’re depriving anyone of the thing you stole, and now just means you’ve made a copy of a thing someone owns.
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.
Besides, there is no statute of limitations on seized assets. If anything, he'd commit a new crime (theft of government assets) by accessing them.