- James Zhong stole over $3.4 billion price of Bitcoin from Silk Highway in 2012.
- Zhong exploited a vulnerability within the system to carry out greater than 140 transactions in fast succession.
- Zhong hid the stolen Bitcoin in varied places till authorities found him in 2021. in November.
April 14 The US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York has introduced {that a} Georgia man has been sentenced to 1 yr in jail for stealing $3.4 billion price of Bitcoin.
James Zhong’s unique crime was wire fraud in opposition to Silk Highway in 2012, in response to authorities. In consequence, Zhong was in a position to steal greater than 51,680 BTC from the darknet market, which was price $3.4 billion on the time. USD and is at the moment valued at 1.57 billion.
As well as, to hold out the theft, Zhong opened a number of accounts on Silk Highway and deposited a small quantity of Bitcoin into every. He then made greater than 140 transactions in fast succession, successfully exploiting a vulnerability within the system and prompting Bitcoin to be launched into his accounts.
After stealing the Bitcoins from Silk Highway, Zhong took steps to cover his possession of the funds by transferring them to a number of addresses and utilizing Bitcoin mixers to make it more durable to hint. It ought to be famous that he didn’t use the Silk Highway Market to purchase or promote something on the time of the theft.
Later in 2017, Zhong profited from the Bitcoin Money laborious fork, which supplied him with further funds. He transformed all his Bitcoin Money holdings to Bitcoin.
Though he dedicated the theft greater than a decade in the past, Zhong was in a position to conceal his actions till November 2021, when regulation enforcement officers raided his residence. In the course of the search, brokers discovered the stolen Bitcoin hidden in a flooring secure, in addition to one laptop that was hidden beneath blankets and in a Cheetos popcorn tin.
Along with the recovered Bitcoins, authorities additionally seized different valuables similar to money, valuable metals and bodily Bitcoins from the Casascius model.
in 2022 In March, Zhong initiated the switch of beforehand undiscovered Bitcoins to authorities.
