• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Terms of service
Sunday, May 29, 2022
The Millennial Source
TMS
Home WORLD

The biggest crypto seizure ever by the Justice Department, explained 

byThe Millennial Source
February 9, 2022
in WORLD
crypto seizure

FILE PHOTO: Illumination of the stock graph is seen on the representations of virtual currency Bitcoin in this picture illustration taken taken March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

The backstory:

  • So a big concern of cryptocurrency critics is that crypto can be used to enable financial crimes, like money laundering. 
  • So, how would that work? For example, bitcoin addresses, which you can think of as a bank account number, can’t be traced to individual people and can only be accessed by the owner of the crypto wallet with their login credentials. 
  • So, this means that – even if everything is recorded on a ledger and transactions can be linked to one another – if you suspect there’s something a little iffy going on, connecting it to a person or business would be difficult. 
  • And, when it’s time to cash out, there’s this thing called bitcoin mixers (or tumblers), which provide customers with a completely new bitcoin address to send their money to. From there, the mixing service will payout bitcoin reserves into other bitcoin addresses provided by the customer and charge a mixing fee. The payments from the reserve will be random and in varying amounts to make it harder to flag.  

The development:

  • On Tuesday, authorities arrested a husband and wife duo, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, accused of attempting to launder 119,754 stolen bitcoin. At the time it was reportedly stolen, it was valued at US$71 million. At the time of the seizure, it was valued at US$4.5 billion.
  • The agency seized 94,000 bitcoin, valued at US$3.9 billion, which is the largest seizure in the government agency’s history. 
  • The bitcoin in question is connected to a 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex, whereby the couple exploited a system security flaw and made several thousand unauthorized transactions, funneling the money into a crypto wallet. From there, they spent the money on gold, NFTs and gift cards. The two also reportedly used techniques like splitting the transactions into thousands of smaller ones, exchanging them for other types of cryptocurrencies, like Monero.
  • The pair faces up to 20 years in prison for money laundering charges. 
  • BTW: This is Morgan’s YouTube. 

You drive the stories at TMS. DM us which headline you want us to explain, or email us.

Like TMS? Subscribe to our free daily newsletter

. . .

Related

Tags: Cryptocurrencies
ShareTweetShare

Latest Posts

stablecoin

What you need to know about Terra’s UST crash 

May 12, 2022
Shares tumble

Wall Street shares tumble while Bitcoin value drops amid market uncertainty 

May 10, 2022
Crypto

Coinbase CEO bets that there will be 1 billion crypto users in a decade

May 6, 2022

Asia’s First NFT Index, RHNI, launches in Hong Kong to provide investors with a benchmark of the evolving NFT world

May 3, 2022

Yuga Labs, the creators behind Bored Ape Yacht Club issues an apology after disrupting the entire Ethereum blockchain

May 3, 2022

Some crypto traders are admitting themselves into rehab

April 25, 2022

Investors like Justin Bieber and Gwyneth Paltrow pile into crypto startup Moonpay

April 13, 2022

Hong Kong’s ex-Finance Chief John Tsang joins StashAway; offers NFTs in bid to attract new clients

April 11, 2022

A private island sells in the metaverse for US$398,685

March 24, 2022

SUBSCRIBE TO THE TMS NEWSLETTER

By providing your email, you agree to our Privacy Policy

The Millennial Source Ltd. 2021

No Result
View All Result
  • Your daily briefing
  • About us
  • Explore
    • Startups
    • Climate change
    • Tech giants
    • Crypto
    • The future of work
    • Banking giants
    • Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • TMS archives
  • Write for us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy & Terms

© 2022 The Millennial Source Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

string(24) "jsonld single post debug"
The Millennial Source
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.