US authorities have announced that $3.4 billion worth of stolen bitcoins have been seized. A federal prosecutor in New York said on Monday that ill-gotten bitcoins were found in the home of a real estate tycoon in November last year. A 32-year-old man stole bitcoins from the “Silk Road” portal, which has been closed since 2013, ten years ago.
The “Silk Road” belongs to the so-called dark web, a hidden part of the Internet that is often used for illegal activities. The bitcoins found in the real estate entrepreneur’s possession are the second largest amount of cryptocurrency seized by US authorities to date. Last February, authorities seized $3.6 billion worth of stolen bitcoin from a couple in New York.
The 32-year-old pleaded guilty last Friday to illegally obtaining $50,000 worth of bitcoins in September 2012, according to investigators. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
The man allegedly defrauded Silk Road using lightning-fast transactions from around nine anonymous accounts. The bitcoins he acquired in this way increased in value tremendously over the years. They were discovered during a search of various devices at his home in Gainesville, Georgia. (apa/afp)
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