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Wat? They had cold storage, the cops just used a $5 wrench attack, kind of. Basically they stashed their profits from the operation to BTC, then just held it.
by earnesti 3y ago
Wat? They had cold storage, the cops just used a $5 wrench attack, kind of. Basically they stashed their profits from the operation to BTC, then just held it.
- paulpauper 3y agodo you think German police used 5$ wrench attack? this is not North Korea.
- baobabKoodaa 3y agoNot a literal wrench, but more like... persuasive talking, backed by credible threat of incarceration. The point of the "$5 wrench attack" is that it's not a cryptographic break.
- paulpauper 3y agoGermany has very lax sentencing. for $2 billion I would just do the time. I am still guessing it was unprotected file on desktop. Probably the criminals kept the only copy of keys on a thumb drive , which when confiscated meant they had no choice but to comply.
- progbits 3y agoYou think you can just get out of prison and use the money? They will be watching you and anything you buy with it or any cash you convert it to will be seized again. Might as well give it up for reduced sentence.
- wmf 3y agoObviously you'd want to leave the country and never return like Kim Dotcom or Mark Karpelès.
- AlbertCory 3y agoOr Carlos Ghosn (a prisoner in Lebanon) the TV miniseries on his case is well worth watching.
- OtherShrezzing 3y ago€2bn buys a nice life for you and everyone you've ever been acquainted with, somewhere without an extradition treaty.
- adventured 3y agoThere aren't any nice places without extradition treaties where you won't be murdered by the people in charge, police, criminal gangs, et al. Or otherwise de facto forced to turn over the money for protection, after which you'll be discarded if you're lucky (and disappeared for convenience if you're not).
- dvngnt_ 3y agoMontenegro?
- acdha 3y agoThey extradite: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/montenegro-court-approves-extradition-cryptocurrency-king-do-kwon-2023-11-24/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/montenegro-court-approv...
- iso8859-1 3y agoSnowden seems to have a much better life than he would in a federal prison, don't you think? Doesn't Putin have an incentive to show that he treats defectors well?
- freetanga 3y agoBrazil
- fbdab103 3y agoSo I am unclear on this. In Germany or the US, if you rob a bank, hide the money, get arrested, and serve a X year sentence, what happens when you are released? Could you use the money? You have already served for the crime. I suppose they could keep some criminal charges in reserve? If nothing else, eventually the statute of limitations would kick in where the money is fair game? Just be sure to declare it on your taxes, lest they get you like Capone.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 3y agoIANAL but I suspect this is the kind of thing civil forfeiture is originally intended for. You would have to sue in court and prove the cash was obtained through legal means.
- leakybit 3y agoIn the US, you may be ordered to pay restitutions or the bank can sue you for the loss.
- patall 3y agoPlus, these guys were (mentally) able to keep to those bitcoin for 100x of growth. I would guess they are likely to have more from other, legal sources, which potentially makes them millionaires. Why (indefenitely) stay in prison with a billion when you can go free with a million.
- jakderrida 3y ago> Plus, these guys were (mentally) able to keep to those bitcoin for 100x of growth. Given the time, I'd wager growth was completely fortuitous. They held it for the same reason I hold mine. Conversion requires either a source willing to exchange large amounts of cash for crypto, which tends to be impractical. Converting to cash through conventional sources (legal exchanges), necessarily involve either large bank deposits or, in cases like Coinbase or Kraken, conversions to cash are directly reported to IRS. I only say this because I'm in the same situation, except I didn't obtain it illegally.
- hot_gril 3y ago"$5 wrench" refers to https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
- josefx 3y agoThe 5$ wrench is just a simple example of social engineering. No amount of cryptography will help you if the guy holding the keys can be talked/pressured into handing them over. https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
- feoren 3y agoI wouldn't say all social engineering is a $5 wrench attack. A $5 wrench attack is having physical access to the person and using physical means (handcuffs, prison cells, guns) to convince them to comply.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agoYou’re taking it way too literally. The joke is that all this fancy-pants cryptography is meaningless when the nerds that employ it will mess their britches at the first whiff of real consequence.
- acdha 3y agoI’d also add that a lot of the rhetoric in the cryptocurrency world is based on this very board game-y mentality where it’s like a contest to set the rules up so you win, which completely misses that in the real-world people just choose not to follow your preferred rules. No police force says “oh, you have impregnable cryptography and a 42 character password, well, we only have one prisoner slot so you can go free now”.
- screamingninja 3y agoReference: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
- fullspectrumdev 3y agoYeah it would be a proper German made 50€ wrench at minimum!
- supafastcoder 3y agoIt would probably be a 5 euro wrench, they don't use dollars in Germany
- dodslaser 3y agoIt would probably be a €500 Knippex adjustable torque wrench. Assuming a German would use a tool for anything except it's intended purpose.
- bubu-bln 3y agoI laughed reading this. I'm now feeling ungerman, because, you know - humor!
- optimalsolver 3y ago>Assuming a German would use a tool for anything except it's intended purpose I heard they made some shower heads that did something else.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agooof
- michaelteter 3y agoIt's still cleaning... thoroughly.