crypto theft
Fat booty: police search hacker’s house – and find Bitcoin worth 3 billion dollars!
50,676 Bitcoin stole by hacker James Zhong from the “Amazon of the dark web”
© Imago / district photo
James Zhong stole 50,676 bitcoin on the dark web. He hid them for almost ten years – until the US authorities found them at his home and confiscated them. The hacker now faces up to 20 years in prison.
Where is the best place to hide bitcoin? James Zhong probably asked this question when he stole 50,676 Bitcoin ten years ago. Bitcoin has long disappeared. Now the US Department of Justice announced on Monday that the stolen Bitcoin worth 3.36 billion US dollars had been found and confiscated.
According to the US agency, this is the second largest seizure in history. The police raid on Zhong’s home in the US state of Georgia was carried out a year ago but has only just been made public. At that time, Bitcoin was at its highest price so far. Meanwhile, the value of that bitcoin is only about $1.1 billion.
Silk Road founder is serving life in prison
Zhong hacked funds from the Darknet trading platform Silk Road in 2012. Investigators found the stolen bitcoins in his home on hard drives and other media – hidden in an underground floor safe and on a tiny computer in a popcorn tin in a bathroom cabinet.
Silk Road was considered the “Amazon of the Dark Web” and the first marketplace where large quantities of drugs and other illegal goods were sold. The site operated from approximately 2011 to 2013. Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.
Zhong pleads guilty
In order to steal the funds from the website, Zhong exploited a vulnerability in the payment system. In September 2012, he set up multiple accounts on the illicit trading platform and deposited a small amount of bitcoin into his digital wallets. Over time, he found a way to quickly withdraw larger amounts without raising suspicion.
Zhong pleaded guilty to hacking Silk Road last Friday. He has surrendered his bitcoin and assets to the police and is currently awaiting judgment. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
“Case shows we won’t stop following the money”
“For almost 10 years, the whereabouts of this vast amount of missing bitcoin has been a mystery,” says attorney Damian Williams. “This case shows that we won’t stop following the money, no matter how cleverly it’s hidden, even down to a circuit board at the bottom of a popcorn can.”
Sources: BBC, US Department of Justice report