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Pope_Cerebus t1_ivku6qg wrote

Reply to comment by foodfighter in TIL: That in 2019, some criminals were caught and 36 BTC was confiscated. The authorities valued the worth at €127,000 at the time and was sold 2 years later for €1.5 million. The criminals were returned €1.3 million due to the fact that the amount was expressed in Swedish Krona, not BTC by Wendals87

The problem is it's highly unlikely they actually stole bitcoin directly. It's much more likely they stole money through wire transfers/credit cards/etc. and routed it through a bitcoin exchange so the transaction couldn't be reversed.

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foodfighter t1_ivkzm61 wrote

Could well be.

Like I said - it'd be an interesting legal case to follow.

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esjay86 t1_ivlswg9 wrote

But isn't one of the basic ideas of forfeiture that you lose the thing seized in its entirety, lose any and all interest, including any future profits? I imagine that in most other places, once the authorities take it from you, it's gone.

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AzureDrag0n1 t1_ivmzrmi wrote

To what point though? Say a criminal steals $50,000 and creates a successful business with it worth millions or maybe even billions. Does the criminal lose all rights and profits to the business? It is not just money that requires a business to be successful.

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batatatchugen t1_ivldfxo wrote

The victims involuntarily had their money invested in bitcoin, they could argue that in this sense they should have the equivalent share of the ROI.

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the_runtt t1_ivln9ou wrote

That's ridiculous. If they had spent it on coke and hookers it would also be fair game then to split the fiver that remained when justice caught up.

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