The U.S. Department of Justice announced in April this year that James Zhong, a Chinese hacker who exploited a payment system vulnerability on the notorious Dark Web black market "Silkroad" to steal more than 50,000 bitcoins, has been arrested 11 years after committing the crime. He was later sentenced to one year and one day in prison.
Extended reading: How will the U.S. government’s next move, which holds more than 200,000 BTC, affect the Bitcoin market?
Did the 50,000 Bitcoins seized come from a self-destruction?
Now CNBC has re- reported the case, allowing more unknown things to be reported.
The report mentioned that this was actually a rather cold and under-the-radar case, but on the night of March 13, 2019, Zhong reported the case to the Georgia police department. At that time, he stated that his home had been stolen. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
According to a recording obtained by CNBC, Zhong told police:
I had a panic attack, I am a Bitcoin investor and although not a bunch of cash was stolen, a cold wallet containing Bitcoin was stolen and I was heartbroken...
As the police conducted in-depth investigations, the Silk Road theft case was again included in the investigation. Finally, after a series of investigations, it became an incident that everyone is familiar with. Zhong was arrested in 2021, and at that time the police seized approximately 50,676 Bitcoins worth approximately US$3.36 billion from his home (at the time when Bitcoin hit a record high of US$69,000), setting the second largest seizure in the history of the US Department of Justice. Check the amount.
Interestingly, when the police raided Zhong’s home last year, they found more than 50,000 Bitcoins hidden in popcorn cans. This may be because Zhong chose to hide his Bitcoins in a more private place after being stolen in 2019.
Zhong, 33, pleaded guilty in November last year to U.S. wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, but in the end he was only sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Still, Zhong petitioned the U.S. Department of Justice not to go to jail because he was worried about his 13-year-old dog, Chad.
Zhong's attorney, Michael Bachner, said the theft did not actually harm the U.S. government. Bachner also told CNBC:
The government was certainly not harmed by any of Zhong's actions. Even if Jimmy hadn't stolen the Bitcoins, and the government had actually confiscated them from "Silk Road operator" Ross Ulbricht, they would have sold them two years later in 2014, much less owned them It's now worth $3 billion.
It is understood that James Zhong has officially served his sentence at the Montgomery Federal Prison in Alabama on July 14, 2023.
