Stolen $3bn Bitcoin mystery ends with popcorn tin discovery

The US Department of Justice has revealed it seized $3.36bn (£2.9bn) of Bitcoin past twelvemonth which was stolen from an infamous darknet website.

The stash of 50,676 Bitcoin was recovered hidden connected assorted devices successful a hacker's location successful an underfloor harmless and wrong a popcorn tin.

James Zhong has pleaded blameworthy to hacking the funds successful 2012 from the amerciable Silk Road marketplace.

US authorities accidental the seizure is the 2nd largest successful history.

The constabulary raid astatine Mr Zhong's Georgia location was carried retired a twelvemonth agone but lone revealed now.

It came astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Bitcoin's worth peaked - the seized funds would present beryllium worthy astir $1.1bn.

Officers accidental they recovered the Bitcoin dotted astir his location connected hard drives and different retention devices successful an underfloor harmless and connected a tiny machine hidden wrong a popcorn tin successful a bath closet.

Police accidental Mr Zhong was capable to bargain the funds from the Silk Road by exploiting a flaw successful the website's outgo system.

In September 2012, helium acceptable up respective accounts connected the darknet marketplace and deposited a tiny magnitude of Bitcoin into his integer wallets. He past recovered a mode to retreat acold larger amounts rapidly truthful arsenic not to rise suspicion.

Silk Road was the archetypal darknet marketplace, which operated from astir 2011 until 2013. It was utilized by cause dealers and different unlawful vendors to administer monolithic quantities of amerciable drugs and different illicit goods and services to galore buyers.

The darknet is simply a portion of the net that tin lone beryllium accessed utilizing specializer software.

Mr Zhong pleaded blameworthy connected 4 November to hacking the website and has forfeited his Bitcoin and assets to constabulary arsenic helium awaits sentencing.

He faces up to 20 years successful prison.

"For astir 10 years, the whereabouts of this monolithic chunk of missing Bitcoin had ballooned into an implicit $3.3bn mystery," helium said.

"This lawsuit shows that we won't halt pursuing the money, nary substance however expertly hidden, adjacent to a circuit committee successful the bottommost of a popcorn tin."

At the clip this was the largest cryptocurrency seizure successful US history, but it was subsequently surpassed successful February erstwhile much than $4bn successful stolen Bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex hack was confiscated.