Share this article
Arrested Hacker Claims $30 Million Bitcoin Theft – But Offers Little Proof
A Pennsylvania resident is claiming to have stolen millions in bitcoin, though he's offered police little in the way of evidence.
By Chuan Tian
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:57 p.m. Published Jul 21, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
Arrested for theft in Pennsylvania, a self-described computer hacker is claiming he stole $34 million in bitcoin, public records show.
According to a criminal complaint filed in an Eastern District of Pennsylvania Federal Court, the man, named Theodore Price, had been apprehended for stealing two laptops and a gold necklace.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
While the story may not seem like much at first, it's during the subsequent investigation where things got interesting. Price eventually told law enforcement officials he had stolen the sizable bitcoin stash.
Police first discovered Price had been using the Tor network to make purchases on Alpha Bay, the darknet market that was recently shut down. Later, he admitted he bought software on Alpha Bay and recoded it himself to "simulate the same coding that blockchain uses to make bitcoin wallets," the document reads.
He then allegedly hacked into computers to divert funds to the wallets that he generated. Price claimed he went so far as to try and launder the bitcoins to another address in order to exchange them into fiat currency.
However, it has yet to be confirmed whether the claim is true. In addition, without the private keys, it remains unclear if Price even has access to the wallets.
In a novel twist to the story, Price further told the police that before the arrest he was planning to flee to the U.K. using a fake passport under the name Jeremy Renner, the actor best known for his role in "The Avengers" and "The Hurt Locker."
Handcuffs on keyboard image via Shutterstock
Di più per voi
Cosa sapere:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
Di più per voi
Japan’s Higher Rates Puts Bitcoin in the Crosshairs of a Yen Carry Unwind
A stronger yen typically coincides with de-risking across macro portfolios, and that dynamic could tighten liquidity conditions that recently helped bitcoin rebound from November’s lows.
Cosa sapere:
- The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates to 0.75% at its December meeting, the highest since 1995, affecting global markets including cryptocurrencies.
- A stronger yen could lead to de-risking in macro portfolios, impacting liquidity conditions that have supported bitcoin's recent recovery.
- Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated a high probability of a rate hike, with officials prepared for further tightening if their economic outlook supports it.
Top Stories
