- James Zhong stole over $3.4 billion value of Bitcoin from Silk Highway in 2012.
- Zhong exploited a system vulnerability by performing over 140 transactions in fast succession.
- Zhong hid the stolen Bitcoin in varied places till authorities found it in November 2021.
On April 14, the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York mentioned a Georgia resident was sentenced to at least one 12 months in jail for stealing $3.4 billion value of Bitcoin.
Authorities say James Zhong’s authentic offense was to commit wire fraud in opposition to Silk Highway in 2012. In consequence, Zhong was in a position to steal over 51,680 BTC from the darknet market, which was value $3.4 billion on the time. period and is at the moment valued at $1.57 billion.
Moreover, to hold out his theft, Zhong opened a number of accounts on Silk Highway and deposited a small quantity of Bitcoin there. He then revamped 140 transactions in fast succession, successfully exploiting a vulnerability within the system and inflicting Bitcoin to be launched into his accounts.
After stealing Bitcoin from Silk Highway, Zhong took steps to hide his possession of the funds by transferring them to a number of addresses and utilizing Bitcoin mixers to make monitoring tougher. Notably, he didn’t use the Silk Highway market to purchase or promote something throughout the theft.
Subsequently, in 2017, Zhong took benefit of the Bitcoin Money laborious fork, which offered him with further funds. He transformed all of 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 legislation enforcement searched his residence. Through the search, officers discovered the stolen Bitcoin hidden in a ground secure, in addition to a single board pc hidden underneath blankets and inside a field of Cheetos popcorn.
Along with the recovered bitcoin, authorities additionally seized different valuables corresponding to money, valuable metals, and bodily Casascius-branded bitcoins.
In March 2022, Zhong initiated the handover of beforehand undiscovered Bitcoin to authorities.
