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Topic: Geeky crypto thief, 32, jailed for hiding $3billion in Bitcoin in popcorn tin (Read 403 times)

legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
Starting to return the stolen bitcoin to the exchange it was obtained from is the last thing the government would do. The government's plan for the stolen bitcoin is to distribute it internally, which will force them to sell it for any amount.

In a normal circumstances, they'd have no choice and would have to return stolen funds to the victim, but in this case, the business he "stole" from was highly illegal Silk Road market place, which got shut down and its owner got sentenced to double lifetime.

Only a fool would consider pursuing women first after having gained money without making any investments that would continue to bring him income.

Seriously? The guy was sitting on ~ $3 billions and your advice is that he should've focussed on earning more money?!. He could not spend that much during his entire lifetime even if he tried. How much is enough for you?
sr. member
Activity: 812
Merit: 349
why not ask for those bitcoins to be returned to the exchange or platform they were stolen from?
Starting to return the stolen bitcoin to the exchange it was obtained from is the last thing the government would do. The government's plan for the stolen bitcoin is to distribute it internally, which will force them to sell it for any amount.

Geeky crypto thief, 32, jailed for hiding $3billion in Bitcoin in popcorn tin admitted to trying to use the cash to score women - as government offloads stolen gains on Coinbase
I don't understand why chasing after girls is the first thought that individuals have when they suddenly become extremely wealthy. They can't get girls without money, or something like that.

Only a fool would consider pursuing women first after having gained money without making any investments that would continue to bring him income.

People's attitudes toward money and girls need to change. Money doesn't disappear from the planet, so that's how beautiful girls are. They shouldn't rush into girls out of greed for cash
legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
You've made two threads about it. One in press, one here. Forwarding the news into press without personal judgement is fine....but adding his photos, shaming, and bullying him after he has already been apprehended and is paying the price for his choices? Why is that necessary? Is it really because that is what you think a healthy society should do? In your version of society that would mean that there is no room for people to be human without their identity being permanently damaged, their emotions being permanently affected and makes the ability to be better severely hindered as the past would not be able to be left behind. I don't agree that a healthy society involves shaming. Shaming a 22 year old for hacking a marketplace that provided drugs, weapons, etc and living an unhealthy lifestyle onward from then, due to his upbringing, mental conditions, etc, after he has already paid the piper. Do you really think that is necessary, or healthy?

Sure you can say that you are just quoting headlines...but do you really agree with how mainstream media treat people? Do you hold the same values as mainstream media?

You can say that anyone is capable of making decisions. That doesn't mean that your judgement is correct. Unless one has heard from their experience and gained insight on their mind, no one should be able to judge.  

You seem very emotionally invested in that story for some reason and are way overprotective of the guy, or you just relate to him a little bit too much.

Are we supposed to not discuss on a Bitcoin forum a story of a guy that was sitting on a (not quite) stolen stash worth >$3 billion because he might feel a bit upset when he reads it? Are we supposed to only say good or neutral things about the guy and his actions? What are you proposing really?

I didn't notice any particular bullying in this thread (defined as targeted, persistent harassment), it's mostly just people criticising his stupid decisions. If people around you are silent or supportive when you do stupid things - ditch them fast, for they are not your friends.

Photos are from the article and most likely were published by the guy himself on his social media.

We judge people and situations all the time, you just judged me for starting this topic. My judgement of him has zero effect on his life and the sentence he will get. If it did, he'd walk free.

legendary
Activity: 1638
Merit: 1036
6.25 ---> 3.125
I have read multiple things from multiple places.

All you really need to read is the blockchain. I'm stating something that is both provable via blockchain and which he admitted to in court. It's not a debatable matter.

Yes, fair enough. I was just saying that my information was based on what I had read from multiple places which is why I got it wrong. I wasn't saying that you were wrong.

Either way, it was stolen from drug dealers, weapon providers, etc. Taking that money away from those kinds of people and leaving it in a popcorn tin, with some of it being used on this kids vices, probably did some positive for the world. In other words, were there really victims in this crime? Was more negative done, or more positive in the long term? That's a genuine question.

You're drawing arbitrary lines for morality in order to call thievery "good". It's not exactly a Robinhood scenario and not nearly as black-and-white as you're trying to make it.

Well, I'm not really saying that what he did was good. Nor that it was a robinhood-like act. I am just saying that some indirect good may have came from what he had done that might make it worth having a little bit of empathy and letting him serve his time rather than humiliating him publicly, which might not help him to be better once he has served his time. Justice has been served. Any victims of his crime were probably people who were better off not having those coins anyway. If innocent people were directly a victim of his crime, then I suppose that humiliation might be called for. I don't believe that is the case though.

You should think about this from a different perspective, instead of condemning him for his issues and vices.  

I didn't "condemn" him for these actions -- the only thing I condemned him for was being a poser on the forum. You seem to be taking this way too personally.

That comment was more toward pawel, and perhaps I worded what I was trying to say wrongly. Not to matter anyway, I have expressed my opinion and there's not really much else to say to extend onto it. In terms of taking it personally, I am not. There's no reason to. I believe that it is one thing talking about the crime itself, it's another taking it out of context in a one-sided way. I try to be a fair person, so when I see things that are unfair I tend to express my opinion. It might come across that I'm taking it personally, but really I am just expressing that I think that things aren't being looked at in a fair way, and trying to shed some unique perspective.
legendary
Activity: 2940
Merit: 7892
I have read multiple things from multiple places.

All you really need to read is the blockchain. I'm stating something that is both provable via blockchain and which he admitted to in court. It's not a debatable matter.

Either way, it was stolen from drug dealers, weapon providers, etc. Taking that money away from those kinds of people and leaving it in a popcorn tin, with some of it being used on this kids vices, probably did some positive for the world. In other words, were there really victims in this crime? Was more negative done, or more positive in the long term? That's a genuine question.

You're drawing arbitrary lines for morality in order to call thievery "good". It's not exactly a Robinhood scenario and not nearly as black-and-white as you're trying to make it.

You should think about this from a different perspective, instead of condemning him for his issues and vices.  

I didn't "condemn" him for these actions -- the only thing I condemned him for was being a poser on the forum. You seem to be taking this way too personally.
legendary
Activity: 1638
Merit: 1036
6.25 ---> 3.125
I used to to think you were kind of a fine guy pawel7777, your posts are usually pretty good. Since coming to this thread though my view has changed, along with some other users who have jumped on the bandwagon.

Ouch. Right in the feels.

Don't shoot the messenger bud, I literally only quoted the headline of the linked article. Unless you're referring to me calling his life miserable - then sorry, but I'm sticking to what I wrote. If you seek fulfillment through splashing money just to impress whores - you're doing something very wrong and deserve shaming, that's what a healthy society should do.

And I don't see his alleged autism as an excuse for holding him accountable. He was perfectly capable of making his own decisions.

You've made two threads about it. One in press, one here. Forwarding the news into press without personal judgement is fine....but adding his photos, shaming, and bullying him after he has already been apprehended and is paying the price for his choices? Why is that necessary? Is it really because that is what you think a healthy society should do? In your version of society that would mean that there is no room for people to be human without their identity being permanently damaged, their emotions being permanently affected and makes the ability to be better severely hindered as the past would not be able to be left behind. I don't agree that a healthy society involves shaming. Shaming a 22 year old for hacking a marketplace that provided drugs, weapons, etc and living an unhealthy lifestyle onward from then, due to his upbringing, mental conditions, etc, after he has already paid the piper. Do you really think that is necessary, or healthy?

Sure you can say that you are just quoting headlines...but do you really agree with how mainstream media treat people? Do you hold the same values as mainstream media?

You can say that anyone is capable of making decisions. That doesn't mean that your judgement is correct. Unless one has heard from their experience and gained insight on their mind, no one should be able to judge.

He was just in the right place at the right time with a skill-set that was somewhat niche at the time, and made less than $100 from exploiting a hole.

Bruh. It was way more than that. 50k BTC at around $10 per coin, that's half a million.

I have read multiple things from multiple places. Either way, it was stolen from drug dealers, weapon providers, etc. Taking that money away from those kinds of people and leaving it in a popcorn tin, with some of it being used on this kids vices, probably did some positive for the world. In other words, were there really victims in this crime? Was more negative done, or more positive in the long term? That's a genuine question.

The saddest part about this thread is that if he had very average american-like looks, was not suspected of "autism" or whatever the crap people are saying here, then what other discussion would there be aside from the crime? The thread title "geeky" - the entire thread "nerd", "autism", etc. It's just pathetic.

He wasn't "suspected of autism," the article states he literally said in court he's autistic, was bullied as a child, and was using his wealth to attract women.

All the more reason to have some empathy, stop posting his photos, let the man do his time and then move on once he has served his time. Tying into what I said above, the crime itself probably served more positive for the world than it did negative. There's really no reason to treat this person the way you are both treating him. You should think about this from a different perspective, instead of condemning him for his issues and vices. 
legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
I used to to think you were kind of a fine guy pawel7777, your posts are usually pretty good. Since coming to this thread though my view has changed, along with some other users who have jumped on the bandwagon.

Ouch. Right in the feels.

Don't shoot the messenger bud, I literally only quoted the headline of the linked article. Unless you're referring to me calling his life miserable - then sorry, but I'm sticking to what I wrote. If you seek fulfillment through splashing money just to impress whores - you're doing something very wrong and deserve shaming, that's what a healthy society should do.

And I don't see his alleged autism as an excuse for holding him accountable. He was perfectly capable of making his own decisions.

The saddest part about this thread is that if he had very average american-like looks,

The saddest part is - he does have very average american-like looks. Few will understand.
legendary
Activity: 2940
Merit: 7892
He was just in the right place at the right time with a skill-set that was somewhat niche at the time, and made less than $100 from exploiting a hole.

Bruh. It was way more than that. 50k BTC at around $10 per coin, that's half a million.

The saddest part about this thread is that if he had very average american-like looks, was not suspected of "autism" or whatever the crap people are saying here, then what other discussion would there be aside from the crime? The thread title "geeky" - the entire thread "nerd", "autism", etc. It's just pathetic.

He wasn't "suspected of autism," the article states he literally said in court he's autistic, was bullied as a child, and was using his wealth to attract women.



The girl on the right doesn't look entirely happy about it but you know what? He does. Good for him, he used his money to achieve happiness. If I were to judge him it would more be for lying on the forum about being an investment manager. Probably worthy of red trust actually.  Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 1638
Merit: 1036
6.25 ---> 3.125
Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.

He does have an account here:

Loaded

What's funny is he used to pretend that he made all his Bitcoin from trading and running a trading fund for wealthy investors... Of course that was all a lie. Not that there wasn't some level of ingenuity involved in how he actually achieved his BTC wealth.

This thread is what made him famous, at least on the forum anyway. It wasn't too long after he posted this that people started figuring out where his BTC really came from.


It was very ingenious. He got all that Bitcoins by exploiting a Dark Market site called the Silk Road. The exploit was said to have allowed him to withdraw many times from the site's wallet without making any new deposits. The site admins can't go the government/police for help, neither can they announce that they were hacked.

Hardly ingenious in comparison to what hackers and people who are even intermediate in the field of hacking are capable of doing. He was just in the right place at the right time with a skill-set that was somewhat niche at the time, and made less than $100 from exploiting a hole.

The saddest part about this thread is that if he had very average american-like looks, was not suspected of "autism" or whatever the crap people are saying here, then what other discussion would there be aside from the crime? The thread title "geeky" - the entire thread "nerd", "autism", etc. It's just pathetic.

I used to to think you were kind of a fine guy pawel7777, your posts are usually pretty good. Since coming to this thread though my view has changed, along with some other users who have jumped on the bandwagon.
legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.

He does have an account here:

Loaded

What's funny is he used to pretend that he made all his Bitcoin from trading and running a trading fund for wealthy investors... Of course that was all a lie. Not that there wasn't some level of ingenuity involved in how he actually achieved his BTC wealth.

This thread is what made him famous, at least on the forum anyway. It wasn't too long after he posted this that people started figuring out where his BTC really came from.

I knew it! Thanks. But how do we know for sure it's the same guy? Some of his posts seems sound (somewhat) sensible, and the actions he took (as per article) make me imagine he was definitely on the dumb-side.

I remember that bet that he offered to Roger Ver. Iirc, Ver accepted eventually but Loaded backed away.

And just a reminder, if anyone presents themselves as a professional investor, hedge fund manager etc. it's 99% bullshit.
legendary
Activity: 2898
Merit: 1823
Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.

He does have an account here:

Loaded

What's funny is he used to pretend that he made all his Bitcoin from trading and running a trading fund for wealthy investors... Of course that was all a lie. Not that there wasn't some level of ingenuity involved in how he actually achieved his BTC wealth.

This thread is what made him famous, at least on the forum anyway. It wasn't too long after he posted this that people started figuring out where his BTC really came from.


It was very ingenious. He got all that Bitcoins by exploiting a Dark Market site called the Silk Road. The exploit was said to have allowed him to withdraw many times from the site's wallet without making any new deposits. The site admins can't go the government/police for help, neither can they announce that they were hacked.
hero member
Activity: 2814
Merit: 911
Have Fun )@@( Stay Safe
~
By mentally disabled, do you mean autistic? Well, some autistic people can be intelligent, but autism does cause problems in relating to others, although I don't know to what extent in his case since he studied at the University.
Elon Musk has Autism and one of my Engineering department head was autistic and dealing with him was a pain in the arse as he was too stubborn Cheesy. So being autistic does not mean that they are not intelligent.

On the other hand it is pathetic that he spent a lot of money to try to impress women and didn't attract them. I imagine that the ones in the photos are escorts. Very strange because a guy with a lot of money always attracts women interested, no matter how ugly he is, who wants to get his money but at least he fucks them. The article also states that he abused cocaine and alcohol.
You need to have personality and money to attract women, 1 year sentence for a big heist is a small sentence while Ross Ulbricht who ran a website is serving double life sentence with trumped up charges Roll Eyes.
legendary
Activity: 2940
Merit: 7892
Wow! So he really did. Btw how did you get his info, or knew that he own that account. Although it looks like it really is based on the thread linked but i'm not so sure.

It was actually mentioned in a court document that was released not too long ago, although I can't find it at the moment. It has also been mentioned in the media:

https://www.theblock.co/post/183749/silk-road-hacker-was-bitcoin-og-who-once-tried-to-bet-with-bitcoin-jesus-roger-ver
Quote
Silk Road hacker James Zhong may have been “Loaded,” the online persona who described himself as a “Bitcoin multimillionaire, broker, and asset manager” and made 135 posts on BitcoinTalk between November 2012 and March 2017.

Comments from around the time described Loaded as a “legend” and said he deserved the “legendary” title on the forum. Others were more suspicious of him. Silk Road hacker James Zhong may have been “Loaded,” the online persona who described himself as a “Bitcoin multimillionaire, broker, and asset manager” and made 135 posts on BitcoinTalk between November 2012 and March 2017.

Comments from around the time described Loaded as a “legend” and said he deserved the “legendary” title on the forum. Others were more suspicious of him.

The last page of this thread has some great details about the case and how he was busted after nearly 10 years. It would appear that most of the time he was living off the proceeds from his BCH fork split rather than the BTC itself.
hero member
Activity: 1428
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He does have an account here:

Loaded

What's funny is he used to pretend that he made all his Bitcoin from trading and running a trading fund for wealthy investors... Of course that was all a lie. Not that there wasn't some level of ingenuity involved in how he actually achieved his BTC wealth.

This thread is what made him famous, at least on the forum anyway. It wasn't too long after he posted this that people started figuring out where his BTC really came from.
Wow! So he really did. Btw how did you get his info, or knew that he own that account. Although it looks like it really is based on the thread linked but i'm not so sure.

Mixing alone wouldn't help him much if he was splashing money on expensive speedboats etc. Assuming he wasn't a high-earner himself, it was just a matter of time for him to get red-flagged..
It could but yeah, mixing alone wont help, besides that he is mentally ill and no family background of having rich family,so having such luxury life is really suspicious.
legendary
Activity: 2940
Merit: 7892
Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.

He does have an account here:

Loaded

What's funny is he used to pretend that he made all his Bitcoin from trading and running a trading fund for wealthy investors... Of course that was all a lie. Not that there wasn't some level of ingenuity involved in how he actually achieved his BTC wealth.

This thread is what made him famous, at least on the forum anyway. It wasn't too long after he posted this that people started figuring out where his BTC really came from.
legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
More like for privacy—private way. The guy is not knowledgeable enough how bitcoin transaction works. Mixers do exists now and lots of them yet we see another guy caught because of sending tainted coins directly on CEX. Well, as he is mentally-illed so i understand.

Mixing alone wouldn't help him much if he was splashing money on expensive speedboats etc. Assuming he wasn't a high-earner himself, it was just a matter of time for him to get red-flagged.

But you can't expect too much from a guy who stores $3bn worth in a popcorn tin in his bathroom.



Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.

I was wondering that too. I think it's very likely, considering the collectible coins and the fact he was in the Bitcoin early, and I think that the majority of the early adopters were active on the bitcointalk, or at least familiar with it.
legendary
Activity: 1638
Merit: 1036
6.25 ---> 3.125
Hard to believe he got off with only a year.  Makes one wonder what SBF will get away with.  Let's see if SBF's was $21 billion and his was 3, maybe he'll get 7 years.   Grin   As mentioned above, if they were liquidating that much in a short, it certainly would increase the supply and consequently decrease the price.  

He hacked $41 a long time ago, it happened to grow into that value in the future. He did not hack $3 billion. On the other hand, SBF embezzled and hid this amount, spent it to grow FTX fraudulently, manipulated the crypto market, ruined many lives and liquidated billions worth of traders that otherwise would not have been liquidated as a result. The two are not in any way comparable.

This guy is a f**king moron, $3 billion dollars is a whole lots money, he could have done better things with this money rather than sleeping around with girls, does this means he had no life goals, or maybe business ideas or something?
Really pathetic and I think he clearly deserves whatever punishment that he's meeted with.

This is just fucking crazy for him someone to have the intention to steal such a big amount of money. He wants to please his slots to believe him that he has the money to spend on them. His reasoning is a bit detrimental to my perception of having an odd reason of living a luxury lifestyle. Some persons can be very funny when it comes to why they want to be rich probably illegally. This is not a good reason to be a theft for crying out loud. If he was not jailed then any consequential treatment he was given should teach him a lesson.

The value at the time the coins were hacked from SilkRoad, was $41. He did not steal $3 billion. That is just the market value at the time of seizure.

Hmm, could it be that this has something to do with Bitcoin struggling to keep above the $30k?

That's a huge amount of money getting traded at one time. It's a huge dump happening, so the price will certainly be affected. However, if that's really the main reason, then I guess the dump is just temporary since Coinbase has over $1.6 billion in 24-hour trading volume. Alternatively, the best idea is to divide the amount of Bitcoin to be traded in different exchanges, if the government allows it.

Right now, Binance has the biggest trading volume with $12 billion daily. So, if some trades are done in Binance, then there won't be much effect on the overall market price.

https://coinmarketcap.com/rankings/exchanges/

It has already been said by multiple outlets that when coins are not auctioned, they are sold on Coinbase. The U.S. Government would not be using Binance to trade these coins especially after the CTFC suit against them.
hero member
Activity: 2590
Merit: 650
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Sending Bitcoin to Coinbase (a centralized exchange) from a wallet that holds about 50,000 bitcoins was so unwise of him, and there was not even a reasonable thing he was using the money for. Well, this should serve as a lesson for people who solely depend on trading their bitcoin on centralized exchanges.
More like for privacy—private way. The guy is not knowledgeable enough how bitcoin transaction works. Mixers do exists now and lots of them yet we see another guy caught because of sending tainted coins directly on CEX. Well, as he is mentally-illed so i understand.

Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.
The only reason why the guy Zhong was apprehended is that he lack the knowledge of privacy and this also happened to a lot of newbies cause they always believe the BTC transaction are anonymous while it was actually pseudonymous.
Having said that, it is easy to understand the naiveness of the guy in possess of the BTC base on how he wants to send the BTC on a lavish lifestyle to help him score women
Assuming he didn't make use of the crypto tumbler website, making use of an anonymous crypto exchange like Crypton Exchange by exchanging the BTC to Monero the story would have changed.                                                                                                               
hero member
Activity: 1428
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Sending Bitcoin to Coinbase (a centralized exchange) from a wallet that holds about 50,000 bitcoins was so unwise of him, and there was not even a reasonable thing he was using the money for. Well, this should serve as a lesson for people who solely depend on trading their bitcoin on centralized exchanges.
More like for privacy—private way. The guy is not knowledgeable enough how bitcoin transaction works. Mixers do exists now and lots of them yet we see another guy caught because of sending tainted coins directly on CEX. Well, as he is mentally-illed so i understand.

Also, the guy got collectible coins, shout out for our physical bitcoin collectibles out there, i wonder if anyone made a transaction between him or he has an account here.
legendary
Activity: 2436
Merit: 1561
I for sure wasn't active in the crypto space during the times of Silk Road marketplace but I think the person behind it created the platform for good intentions
Mmm, not really. I think it was created just for profit. The operator is serving a double lifetime, but the verdict was highly controversial and very unfair.
You can find more details here:
https://freeross.org/

The Government call such platforms "illegal" because they don't regulate them. More like how they have demonized Bitcoin over the years, but what the guy stole was actually Bitcoins from people. Not just from a thin air.

There's a problem here, if he stole (or however we want to call that) bitcoins from users, then it would be expected for authorities to make at least some attempt to identify original owners and try to reimburse them instead of just selling their assets and keeping the profits.
But if he stole from SilkRoad-owned stash, then the feds could seize that as proceeds from illegal activities.

From my understanding of Hacking, it's the practice of recognizing and then taking advantage of the vulnerability in a website, app or computer system, to gain unauthorized access to data and funds like in this case because those stolen funds did not belong to the geeky Crypto thief.

I think that's broadly in line with the legal definition in most countries, but the "to gain unauthorised access" is the key here. From what I read, it was not really the case.
Possibly, with a help of a good lawyer, he could possibly get away without serving any time, but since all his money got seized, he's unlikely to afford one. A little prison time probably will do him good.

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