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Deal
German prosecutors have seized more than € 50 million ($ 60 million) in bitcoins from a scammer. There’s just one problem: they can’t unlock the money because you don’t give them the password.
FILE PHOTO: A representation of the virtual currency Bitcoin and small toy figures are placed on the motherboard of the computer in this illustration taken on January 7, 2021. The photograph was taken on January 7, 2021. REUTERS / Given Ruvic / File Photo
FRANKFURT: German prosecutors have seized more than 50 million euros ($ 60 million) in bitcoins from a scammer. There’s just one problem: they can’t unlock the money because you don’t give them the password.
The man was sentenced to prison and has served his sentence since, maintaining his silence the entire time as police made repeated unsuccessful efforts to crack the code to access more than 1,700 bitcoins, said a prosecutor in the Bavarian city of Kempten.
“We asked him, but he didn’t say,” prosecutor Sebastian Murer told Reuters on Friday. “Maybe he doesn’t know.”
Bitcoin is stored in software known as a digital wallet that is protected by encryption. A password is used as a decryption key to open the wallet and access the bitcoin. When a password is lost, the user cannot open the wallet.
The fraudster had been sentenced to more than two years in prison for covertly installing software on other computers to harness its power to “mine” or produce bitcoins.
When he went behind bars, his stash of bitcoins would have been worth a fraction of today’s value. The price of bitcoin has risen over the past year, hitting a record $ 42,000 in January. On Friday it was trading at $ 37,577, according to cryptocurrency and blockchain website Coindesk.
However, prosecutors have ensured that the man cannot access the generosity.
(US $ 1 = 0.8349 euros)
(Reporting by John O’Donnell; Additional reporting by Anna Irrera in London; Pravin Char edition)
