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Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

bloomberg.com

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Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#91

Post by kylebenzle »

FormerBandmate wrote: post #86
throw101010 wrote: post #22

> The prosecutors accuse Harmon of a very unusual crime: remotely swiping Bitcoin... As opposed to what, "locally" swiping Bitcoin? > ... Bitcoin stored on a computer device the government had already seized in another case Yeah that's your problem Mr. Prosecutor, you have no idea where bitcoins are "stored" or what the device you have seized is. Which leads me to think you are not qualified to "seize" this type of a…

>It's simple, like all crypto newbies this prosecutor has just learned: Not your keys, not your coins. The US government can throw your ass in prison for the rest of your life so yes, it is their coins. This is the basis of all government power and in a lot of cases, like this, it's good

No post body was provided.

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#92

Post by andywood »

olalonde wrote: post #88
jandrese wrote: post #8

This was bound to happen eventually. People have been noting for awhile how often law enforcement just leaves the "seized" coins in the original wallet somehow thinking that no criminal would ever make a backup copy of their private keys.

> People have been noting for awhile how often law enforcement just leaves the "seized" coins in the original wallet Do you have any source on that?

Here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33088681

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#93

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

cantSpellSober wrote: post #75
denkmoon wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that goes right back to OPs point. If LEO are leaving these "seized" assets unsecured, they are simply not qualified to be doing what they are doing. To directly answer your question, forever. Policing is sufficiently distributed and poor at retaining or integrating new knowledge that I am sure we will see these amateur-hour mistakes being made for as long as crypto exists in its current form. Modern policing has not…

> forever Good! Nothing to worry about then? Our coins are forever un-seizeable? Robert Peel? Nuance please.

FBI hires external consultants (“experts”) when there is $311 million at stake. In this case I’m sure they hired at least one crypto expert. In other words, they don’t need to understand private keys, pins, and passphrases in detail in order to be effective.

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#94

Post by faangiq »

CamelCaseName wrote: post #52
faangiq wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likelihood that these are always on, dumping data directly to the Feds?

Based on the replies you received, somewhere between zero and 101%. Jokes aside, my guess is zero. Transmitting that much data would probably be a lot. Maybe you could take a picture every 30 minutes and hide it away with other data if you really wanted to, but Google Glass was so short lived I imagine they had bigger things to worry about.

Well, Google Glass was a niche product and monitoring its users may have been of particular interest.

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#95

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

leeoniya wrote: post #90

> To US prosecutors, it’s evidence that he suddenly came into a lot of money. it's a tub full of singles :_D https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/izKncFTLeKf... i've seen strippers leave the stage with more

There’s at least 20 bucks there!

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#96

Post by px43 »

leeoniya wrote: post #90

> To US prosecutors, it’s evidence that he suddenly came into a lot of money. it's a tub full of singles :_D https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/izKncFTLeKf... i've seen strippers leave the stage with more

Dude, that guy's got to have like, 200 bucks! Wild!

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#97

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

michaelrpeskin wrote: post #31
newZWhoDis wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I don’t bother with RAID (besides 0). If a drive ever fails I just FOIA NSA and all my data shows up a few weeks later, usually with a nasty letter about how this is the last time

I actually did this when it was time to renew my SF 86. I didn’t want to remember all the names and addresses and phone numbers from the last time. So I just did a FOIA on myself and the emailed me my last form already filled out.

What’s an SF 86?

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#98

Post by px43 »

zie wrote: post #62
jandrese wrote: post #8

This was bound to happen eventually. People have been noting for awhile how often law enforcement just leaves the "seized" coins in the original wallet somehow thinking that no criminal would ever make a backup copy of their private keys.

The FBI has a bitcoin wallet, and they routinely used to store seized BTC there. I'm not sure what they are doing now, I don't really pay attention, but last I looked that address was basically empty.

Yeah, FBI wallets regularly get sold at GSA auctions.

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#99

Post by yieldcrv »

nullc wrote: post #37
yieldcrv wrote: post #12

If you find yourself in the similar situation, use RenVM to get your bitcoin over to an EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine, many networks use EVMs now), then you have many more options. You can still use Tornado cash. You can still withdraw from Tornado cash to new addresses. You can use those funds in those new addresses to buy and pump the price of the the smallcap tokens you already owned with your salary money. Decent…

Always good to have a post with someone explaining to engage in illegal money laundering and thus indirectly explain the NFT, ICO, and 1/4 of the altcoin ecosystem.

thanks for your contributions to the space

the capital will not be controlled and the government will have to find new tools to “promote a change of behavior” as they delightfully put it

anyway, I’m all for walking away from the dirty funds that are stuck with the illiquid token, but even bigger fun to be had if the other 75% of the market buys into your token just because the price rallies so hard, then your tornado cash funded addresses can cash out again and be ready for the next play.

Or even better, the token gets so popular that the token and/or liquidity pool shares can be staked in another legit protocol to borrow against or earn passive income.

Capital games, capital gains. Like most patient or dead capital, you can still use it to validate ideas and causes you care about. “Wow the TVL is so large, now I need to use it too” for example.

The idea of policing capital is gone, whether the documentary on this reality has come out or not.

Re: Feds seized $311M in Bitcoin, then hacker stole it back

#100

Post by hda2 »

No, Blooomberg. The "hacker" never "stole" the money back. The feds never seized it in the first place. All they seized was an encrypted wallet.

Putting it in terms you might better understand: What the feds seized is equivalent to a foreign, chip-only banking card. They never seized the money behind it or the pin required to move that money.

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