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Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#461

Post by johnmarcus »

kart23 wrote: post #414
gzer0 wrote: post #398

Here's how the fed caught them: "The DOJ said it was able to seize the funds after an FBI search warrant of one of Lichtenstein's cloud storage accounts found a file containing cryptocurrency addresses and their corresponding private key that granted access to funds stored within."

what the... no way they just kept an unencrypted private key on the cloud.

the file was encrypted, but the fbi hacked it after already having gained access to the account (via warrent).

Which is to say, this isn't how they actually got cought, it's just how the nail will go in the coffin (and thankfully for those impacted, some funds recovered).

FWIW, if you ever find yourself in this position of owning a large amount of stolen crypto, I believe the best way to wash it would be to "robin hood it out" to a bunch of random wallets. You just happen to own 10-20% of the wallets, but the feds now have to try and track thousands of different people over years to try and identify the true thief, and there will always be plausible deniability.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#462

Post by yupper32 »

brightball wrote: post #369
35fbe7d3d5b9 wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans notoriously overestimate their competence and underestimate dangers they face. Combine that with a federal investigation that's going to be slow because 1) it's complex and 2) the feds will happily investigate you for years if it increases their chance of a conviction, and you've got a recipe for people who think they got away with it right up until the moment of arrest.

Yea, listening to enough stories on Darknet Diaries about how people get caught it’s pretty crazy. Honestly makes working in the groups that catch people like this sound very interesting.

I imagine it's very very very boring for a while, with relatively brief moments of satisfaction.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#463

Post by shadowgovt »

14 wrote: post #34
raverbashing wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fancy (or even basic) dictionary attack has a very high chance of working.

Random example but my passwords look something like chOf$Tyl83fhn@54R. I keep them written down because they are hard to remember. My threat model is no one. Seems so amateur to use a simple password that could be brute forced. Especially with so much on the line.

> I keep them written down because they are hard to remember.

With the Feds involved, that would be sufficient to crack the data.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#464

Post by mikeyouse »

duxup wrote: post #12

>According to court documents, Lichtenstein and Morgan allegedly conspired to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex’s platform after a hacker breached Bitfinex’s systems and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions. Those unauthorized transactions sent the stolen bitcoin to a digital wallet under Lichtenstein’s control. Over the last five years, approximately 25,000 of thos…

Yeah -- It reads like they didn't have the evidence to prove they hacked Bitfinex, but plenty of evidence they're the only ones that moved the hacked funds. Hence the lack of CFAA or other charges in favor of money laundering ConFraudUS.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#465

Post by peter303 »

fxtentacle wrote: post #4

Shouldn't all true crypto believers hate this news? It's the government trying to enforce their opinion of who should own those Bitcoins, thereby taking power away from the owner that the network has decided on, which would be "whoever has the cryptographic keys".

Plus the first money line on the IRS 1040 this year asks if you made any crypto transaction. IRS found a golden goose.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#466

Post by conductr »

fxtentacle wrote: post #4

Shouldn't all true crypto believers hate this news? It's the government trying to enforce their opinion of who should own those Bitcoins, thereby taking power away from the owner that the network has decided on, which would be "whoever has the cryptographic keys".

“True crypto believers” seems like a loaded phrase these days because I feel like most crypto believers are riding it’s wave to legitimacy. And things like this push it further towards that goal.

I don’t see how anyone could really still believe in the original ideals behind Bitcoin. They made something but not what they wanted.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#467

Post by RHSeeger »

lordnacho wrote: post #241
tiffanyh wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "It sounds from the release that the justice department has a boatload of compelling evidence against them." You'd hope that before someone is arrested, the prosecutor has ample evidence to prove guilt. I don't understand your point. These individuals have not been proven guilty yet. Why are you editorializing their presumed guilt in this matter. Note: I have no affiliation with these individuals nor case.

He's saying that the law presumes innocence until proven guilty. They don't throw you in jail or take your money until the legal process reaches a judgement, and this is pretty normal and uncontroversial. But you don't have to keep going for drinks with a person who's just been arrested and let out on bail, you can make up your own opinion as you feel. You can say bad things about him before the judge does, you can d…

And plenty of innocent people have had their lives ruined because of exactly this behavior.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#468

Post by yupper32 »

mardifoufs wrote: post #265
d23 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the standard for our criminal justice system, not for us as individuals. It sounds from the release that the justice department has a boatload of compelling evidence against them.

There's a reason why the criminal justice system operates like that though. The system has been designed like that because it turned that it is a very good idea not to go on witch hunts or to assume guilt if you want a functional society. I'm not defending the person involved here, but it's important to remember that the presumption of innocence isn't just an abstract legal concept instead of a very important part of…

I could literally watch someone pick up a gun and shoot someone. Technically they're still innocent until a court of law says they're guilty. But as an individual I don't need to wait to think they're guilty.

The question is where do you draw the line as an individual.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#469

Post by capableweb »

Waterluvian wrote: post #446
TTPrograms wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obvious no-true-scotsman. Believing that the goal of crypto is to circumvent laws regarding possession and theft is at most a fringe belief. The fact that this is at the top of HN demonstrates how devoid of merit crypto discussion here is.

There isn’t a worthy discussion left to be had about crypto that isn’t discussing its role in fraud.

That's such a sad view, especially to hold in a generally curious place like HN. Another example is narcotics, yes we know that most narcotics usage is bad, but does that mean all usage of narcotics is bad? Obviously not, and we take those articles as they come, and discuss the angles each article has independently, in most cases at least. But somehow cryptocurrencies are so emotional for most people, that they hold such a black/white view of it.

We can, and should discuss subjects without "tainting" them with general, over-discussed points when we can, especially if we want to keep HN curious and not turn into a echo-chamber.

Re: Feds arrest couple, seize $3.6B in hacked Bitcoin funds

#470

Post by champagnois »

albroland wrote: post #6

fwiw, it appears one of the named here is a YC Alum: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=il https://www.linkedin.com/in/unrealdutch/

If Reddit.com/r/worldnews can have Ghislaine Maxwell (of the epstein case) as a moderator (u/maxwellhill) -- then Ycombinator gets its own billionaire criminal.
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