FBI Bitcoins Seized in Crypto Takedown Operation

The FBI's Bitcoin seizures have made headlines in recent years, and for good reason. In 2020, the agency seized over 1,000 Bitcoins worth around $3.5 million in a crypto takedown operation.

This operation was part of a larger effort to crack down on illicit activities online. The FBI has been actively working to disrupt and dismantle these operations, and their efforts have been successful in recovering significant amounts of cryptocurrency.

The seized Bitcoins were part of a larger haul, with the agency recovering millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency in total. This is a testament to the FBI's growing expertise in cryptocurrency investigations.

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The FBI has taken significant actions to combat the use of Bitcoin for illicit activities. In 2013, the FBI seized over 200,000 Bitcoins from the Silk Road online marketplace, which was used for illegal drug sales.

This seizure was a major blow to the Silk Road's operators and marked a significant milestone in the FBI's efforts to crack down on Bitcoin-based crime. The FBI has also been working to identify and prosecute individuals who use Bitcoin to facilitate money laundering and other financial crimes.

The FBI's actions have sent a clear message that using Bitcoin for illicit activities will not be tolerated, and it's had a significant impact on the overall security and legitimacy of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

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The FBI has been busy lately, and one recent arrest is making headlines. Eric Council Jr., a 25-year-old man from Alabama, was arrested for his alleged role in the hack of the Securities and Exchange Commission's X account.

The hack happened on January 9th, and it sent the price of bitcoin spiking by over $1,000. The FBI alleges that Council executed a SIM swap attack to gain access to the SEC's X account.

Council allegedly shared access codes with co-conspirators who blasted out a fake tweet in the name of the SEC's chairman, Gary Gensler. The tweet claimed the SEC had approved bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.

The SEC quickly regained control of its social media account and announced the tweet was false. After that, the value of bitcoin decreased by over $2,000 per bitcoin.

Council is charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud. He was ordered held without bail after appearing in U.S. District Court in Huntsville, Alabama.

The FBI's Plan for Seized Bitcoins is a fascinating topic.

The FBI initially seized over 26,000 Bitcoins from Silk Road, which is a significant amount of digital currency.

The FBI plans to hold onto the seized Bitcoins until the judicial process is over, likely hoping the price of Bitcoin stays high for a potential sale.

The government is aware that Bitcoins are not illegal in and of themselves and have legitimate uses.

The seized Bitcoins belonged to Silk Road users, not Ross Ulbricht, and the FBI has not been able to access his personal Bitcoin stash yet.

The FBI's Bitcoin wallet has been located on Reddit, and it shows an influx of 27,000 Bitcoins starting on October 2.

The FBI spokesperson stated that users of Silk Road are unlikely to recover their Bitcoins due to the nature of the transactions.

The FBI recently took down Samourai, a cryptocurrency transfer platform that provided a crypto mixer service for laundering funds sourced from criminal activity.

Over 100,000 users downloaded the Samourai Wallet Android mobile app from the Google Play Store before it was removed.

Icelandic law enforcement seized Samourai's domains and web servers, effectively shutting down the operation.

The U.S. Department of Justice charged the platform's founders and operators, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, for laundering over $100 million.

The defendants collected around $4.5 million in fees from these illicit transactions.

Since 2017, over 80,000 BTC (worth over $2 billion) has passed through Samourai's services.

The DOJ stated that the defendants knew Samourai was a haven for large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion.