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Hacker Refuses to Hand Police Password for Seized Wallet With $6.5M in Bitcoin
Throughout a two-year prison term, the man repeatedly refused to give wallet access to German authorities.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:07 p.m. Published Feb 5, 2021, 1:20 p.m.
German authorities who seized a convicted hacker's wallet containing over 1,700 bitcoin – worth at least $64.7 million at today's prices – have hit a brick wall when trying to access the coins.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
- According to a German prosecutor cited by Reuters Friday, the convicted criminal is refusing to share the password that would allow the authorities to access the bitcoin.
- The hacker was sentenced to an over two-year prison term for installing software on other people’s computers without permission in order to mine cryptocurrency.
- He has now served the sentence and has consistently refused hand over the wallet password, despite multiple requests.
- “We asked him but he didn’t say,” prosecutor Sebastian Murer told Reuters. “Perhaps he doesn’t know.”
- Prosecutors have made sure the man cannot access the bitcoin trove after release, Reuters said without providing any further detail.
Read more: Ex-Ripple CTO Can’t Remember Password to Access $240M in Bitcoin
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