digital currency
Crypto coup in the USA
Bitcoin is primarily in demand as an investment or speculative object. Photo: Ina Fassbender/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Legal authorities have seized a Bitcoin treasure that was stolen in a hacker attack. Value: $3.6 billion. Two suspects are in custody. They face long prison sentences.
The US government has seized over $3.6 billion worth of bitcoins after a hacking attack on a crypto trading exchange.
According to a statement on Tuesday, this is the largest seizure of financial assets by the Justice Department to date. The bitcoins were captured in a 2016 cyber attack on Bitfinex, an online cryptocurrency trading platform.
The Justice Department also announced the arrest of two suspects in connection with the hack. They are accused of conspiracy to launder money and fraud. It is about cryptocurrencies with a total value of about 4.5 billion dollars. The New York couple is said to have attempted to launder nearly 120,000 bitcoins that came from Bitfinex. According to investigators, the accused are 34 and 31 years old and were arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday morning. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Bitfinex welcomed the seizure in a press release. The company said it had worked closely with the Justice Department and continued to do so. The message does not really make it clear how the confiscated bitcoins will continue. Bitfinex will take all legal means for a repayment, it says only. The online exchange will provide further updates as soon as this is possible. According to representatives of the Ministry of Justice, a court case is to be initiated in which victims can reclaim their stolen bitcoins.
The Ministry of Justice’s statements on the value of the seized crypto assets relate to the time of the confiscation. When the attack on Bitfinex took place, it was only around $71 million. At that time, the Bitcoin price was much lower. For comparison: in mid-2016, the exchange price of the oldest and best-known cryptocurrency was still less than $600. Bitcoin recently cost around $43,000. The previous record high was reached in November 2021 at just over $ 69,000.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that was created on the Internet and is primarily in demand as an investment or speculative object. It has been in circulation since 2009. Bitcoins are generated in complicated computing processes on the users’ computers, but can also be bought on the Internet from exchanges such as Bitfinex with established currencies such as dollars or euros. The Bitcoin system works on the basis of the so-called blockchain technology – an encrypted database that stores all transactions.