4 ms·

US Seizes 15B BTC, Indicts Chairman: Forced Labor Scam Compounds, Crypto Fraud

20 points by eevilspock 1y ago

geor9e 1y ago
Trainwreck of a headline. Suggestion: DOJ seeks $15B Bitcoin forfeiture from Cambodian forced labor scam.
eevilspock 1y ago
In the media: https://thediplomat.com/2025/10/us-uk-announce-sweeping-sanctions-in-largest-action-ever-against-southeast-asia-scam-syndicates/ https://thediplomat.com/2025/10/us-uk-announce-sweeping-sanc...
WJW 1y ago
15 billion USD worth of bitcoin, not 15 billion bitcoins.
- nathanaldensr 1y ago
  The title should really be corrected. I interpreted it the same way.
skilled 1y ago
Previous discussion from a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45580981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45580981
edm0nd 1y ago
There can only even be 21M BTC ever. Title is derp'd
- simmerup 1y ago
  Until they change the alogrithm anyway
  - adastra22 1y ago
    There is no “they” able to change the algorithm.
    - sjsdaiuasgdia 1y ago
      A consensus of miners is still a "they".
      - adastra22 1y ago
        Even a unanimous agreement of all miners would be unable to change consensus rules. These rules are not set by miners.
        sjsdaiuasgdia 1y ago
        Miners choose which version of the software they run. The software defines the consensus rules. If sufficient mining power prefers software versions with specific consensus rules, the rules are effectively changed. By a "they".
        adastra22 1y ago
        This is simply not true. BTW I was a bitcoin core developer for many years, and am one of the few people who have actually changed bitcoin’s consensus rules. If a quorum of miners decide to run hard fork changes, then they just disappear from the network once the changes trigger. No miner can force a user to change their consensus rules. A soft fork is different. But increasing the bitcoin issuance can never be a soft fork.
adastra22 1y ago
“15B in BTC” — please fix the title
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
baobabKoodaa 1y ago
How did they seize it?
- jacknews 1y ago
  What I read is they hacked wallets that had the 'Milk Sad' vulnerability (predictable private key), but I'm skeptical as that's an old CVE, IMHO it's more likely an infrastructure or communications hack or a wrench attack - the suspect is now 'missing'.
  - baobabKoodaa 1y ago
    A bit conspiratorial to think the DoJ "wrenched" the keys out of the suspect, especially since the suspect is now missing
    - jacknews 1y ago
      Of course it is, OTOH the nature of this 'enterprise' has been visible for quite a while now, and I'm sure, investigated quite intensively (by more than DoJ), and 'missing' only means that the general public doesn't know where he is.

20 points by eevilspock 1y ago

Trainwreck of a headline. Suggestion: DOJ seeks $15B Bitcoin forfeiture from Cambodian forced labor scam.

In the media: https://thediplomat.com/2025/10/us-uk-announce-sweeping-sanctions-in-largest-action-ever-against-southeast-asia-scam-syndicates/ https://thediplomat.com/2025/10/us-uk-announce-sweeping-sanc...

WJW 1y ago

15 billion USD worth of bitcoin, not 15 billion bitcoins.

nathanaldensr 1y ago
The title should really be corrected. I interpreted it the same way.

skilled 1y ago

Previous discussion from a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45580981 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45580981

edm0nd 1y ago

There can only even be 21M BTC ever. Title is derp'd

simmerup 1y ago
Until they change the alogrithm anyway
- adastra22 1y ago
  There is no “they” able to change the algorithm.
  - sjsdaiuasgdia 1y ago
    A consensus of miners is still a "they".
    - adastra22 1y ago
      Even a unanimous agreement of all miners would be unable to change consensus rules. These rules are not set by miners.
      - sjsdaiuasgdia 1y ago
        Miners choose which version of the software they run. The software defines the consensus rules. If sufficient mining power prefers software versions with specific consensus rules, the rules are effectively changed. By a "they".
        adastra22 1y ago
        This is simply not true. BTW I was a bitcoin core developer for many years, and am one of the few people who have actually changed bitcoin’s consensus rules. If a quorum of miners decide to run hard fork changes, then they just disappear from the network once the changes trigger. No miner can force a user to change their consensus rules. A soft fork is different. But increasing the bitcoin issuance can never be a soft fork.

adastra22 1y ago

“15B in BTC” — please fix the title

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

baobabKoodaa 1y ago

How did they seize it?

jacknews 1y ago
What I read is they hacked wallets that had the 'Milk Sad' vulnerability (predictable private key), but I'm skeptical as that's an old CVE, IMHO it's more likely an infrastructure or communications hack or a wrench attack - the suspect is now 'missing'.
- baobabKoodaa 1y ago
  A bit conspiratorial to think the DoJ "wrenched" the keys out of the suspect, especially since the suspect is now missing
  - jacknews 1y ago
    Of course it is, OTOH the nature of this 'enterprise' has been visible for quite a while now, and I'm sure, investigated quite intensively (by more than DoJ), and 'missing' only means that the general public doesn't know where he is.