A lot of criminals flock to Bitcoin due to its perceived anonymity. Most of those people end up in jail eventually, including one Irish drug dealer.
On the darknet, Bitcoin is often considered to be a prominent payment method.
A Massive Amount of Bitcoin Seized
A lot of people think Bitcoin is only used to buy and sell drugs online.
In the case of this Irish drug dealer, that is certainly the case.
He has been forced to forfeit over 52 million euro in Bitcoin this week.
All of those proceeds come from his drug-related activities.
Clifton Collins has been involved in selling and supplying drugs and other narcotics.
He has been under investigation since early 2017 and was arrested shortly after.
Some of his Bitcoin holdings originate from being a very early investor.
Given the spectacular rise in value, it gave Collins a lot of funds to play around with and fund operations.
How the held bitcoins will be handled from here on out, remains to be seen.
Confiscating cryptocurrencies is not as straightforward as freezing one’s bank assets.
Officials obtained a “freezing order” on the Bitcoin wallet to ensure no funds can be moved.
A bit of a strange development, but one that can set a problematic precedent for the rest of the world.
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