A dormant Bitcoin wallet linked to a darknet drug lord funded a government
And forced a minister to resign 🚨
Here’s what’s happening:
- The Wallet
468 BTC (~$45M) were sent to the Czech Ministry of Justice.
Wallet linked to: Tomáš Jiřikovský
Total estimated holdings behind it: hundreds of millions in BTC
- The Darknet Origin
Jiřikovský ran Sheep Marketplace
A darknet platform for:
- drugs
- weapons
- illegal services
Arrested in 2016
Convicted in 2017
Released in 2021
- The Seized Devices
Police confiscated ~30 devices
These devices held access to Bitcoin wallets, courts later ruled they had to be returned
In 2025 he gets them back
After years of silence the wallet comes back to life
- The Transaction
468 BTC sent directly to a government wallet
accepted as a donation
The Minister Pavel Blažek approves it
calls it legal
calls it clean
days later, the story explodes and he resigns
May 31, 2025
- The Political Fallout
opposition calls it laundering, pushes for government collapse
vote of no confidence
government survives
but barely
- The Missing Bitcoin
the 468 BTC was only a fraction
Jiřikovský disappears and none of this was supposed to happen
This shows how close criminal Bitcoin can get to power
Closer than anyone thought
