U.S. to return $154 mil stolen by Sony employee and converted to bitcoin

who will get the interest I wonder?

Depending when he bought the bitcoin in May, it's now up by as much as 60% in USD terms. If I were Sony I'd be asking for the Bitcoin, not the fiat.

Criminals should take note: You cannot rely on cryptocurrency to hide your ill-gotten gains from law enforcement."

Bitcoin haters should also take note of this. Still a handful of people around who still think bitcoin is "only for criminals".

If I were Sony I'd be asking for the Bitcoin, not the fiat.

Not sure how this will play out since they will be on the receiving end and not on the purchasing side. Reporting capital gains tax as a company can be quite the hassle here.

I wonder what exactly his plan even was after he took the money. Did he plan to run away to some country and think he get to spend any of it? Because this whole scheme is so stupid.

Bitcoin is a scam. Proof is it's valued to USD and not BC itself. I don't like it because it makes computer hardware expensive. But wish I mined it 10 years ago and cashed in the millions (of dollars). Also when you die there is no probate. Look at Mircea Popescu

Bitcoin haters should also take note of this. Still a handful of people around who still think bitcoin is "only for criminals".

Hows the search for the Mt Gox money goin?

I also find it funny they call it an “audacious theft”. The guy funneled money into his account and bought Bitcoin. He’d have had a harder time sniping a pack of gum from a gas station.

Also, it seems crypto is as anonymous as fanboys claim it is, considering the feds not only we’re able to track him down, but get a hold of his wallet key

*isn’t as anonymous

How?

Two likely scenarios. 1, they found his seed phrase when searching his residence/computer. 2, he gave it to them after he was caught and realised how much trouble he was in.

How?

Option 1) Maybe he was stupid enough to leave the coins with an exchange.

Option 2) He left his seed phrase somewhere stupid

Option 3) Tortured

nishikatToday 08:11 am JST

Bitcoin is a scam. Proof is it's valued to USD and not BC itself.

That's nonsensical.

nishikat

Bitcoin is a scam. Proof is it's valued to USD and not BC itself.

Are you joking? That order is just for convenience. You can also value the USD to Bitcoin if you prefer.

You can also value the USD to Bitcoin if you prefer

But if I have a million dollars I feel rich because I have a million dollars. But if I have 20 BC I feel rich because I have a million dollars and I would cash out to the dollars. And what happens if I drown in the river and no way to exercise probate? Also I never heard of any PC/server/smartphone being hacked so some bum can freeload on resources for conventional dollar mining. Don't get me wrong. I wish it was 2010 and I could mine BC then sell out for real cash to another sucker. Also, enjoying life in Japan with all those BC millions and a bit nervous about the tax office (I would be)?

They say crypto is beyond government reach, but more and more thats proving to be false.

One big ace card it increasingly no longer has.

Bitcoin is a scam. Proof is it's valued to USD

No it's not. Where did you get that silly idea? Bitcoin isn't pegged to anything.

Also, it seems crypto is as anonymous as fanboys claim it is, considering the feds not only we’re able to track him down, but get a hold of his wallet key

Crypotocurrencies are exactly as anonymous as they are. There is no requirement of associating any personal information with a wallet, and therefore total anonymity is possible. However, many bitcoin purchasers use hosted wallets, which do require associating personal information with a wallet, removing said anonymity.

As for getting his key, that could either happen by legally forcing a hosted wallet exchange to provide the key, or taking the guy's hard-drive and getting the key from there.

Neither of these have anything to do with anonymity though.

if I have a million dollars I feel rich because I have a million dollars. But if I have 20 BC I feel rich because I have a million dollars and I would cash out to the dollars.

So? If I have 100 million yen, I feel I'm rich because I have 100 million yen. If I have 20 BC I feel rich because I have 100 million yen worth of BC, which I would cash out to yen.

Why would non-Americans need to cash out their BC in American dollars, or even think of it that way?

If the company receives back the current estimated value of its employee's 'investments', he will have provided his company a ~14.5% return on investment. This is not an insignificant return on a roughly six month investment. The best course here for the company might be for them to reinstate Mr Ishii and let him 'steal' some more.

Of all of the unsupported 'faiths' that infest 'Human Reality', the 'faith' that makes MONEY possible is the least questioned. But even Gold is worth only what it can buy and, in times of widespread famine, cannot even buy a loaf of bread. Both Bitcoin and the Dollar are matters of faith both that they have a certain 'value' and that they will continue to have value in the future, neither of which is 'guaranteed' by this Universe.

A U.S. Dollar, for example, is a certificate representing many Trillions of itself in vacuum, that is, debt and the, so far, workable delusion that that debt can be ignored even as the 'value' of that certificate declines day by day. So, too, Bitcoin which can double its 'value' in other faith based currencies, its ONLY value, and see that 'value' halved or worse the next day. Many 'billionaires' today, controlling the same 'value' thirty years ago would have been only 'millionaires'.

I'm just a bear of too small brain to see a 'better' way but not so small not to be able to see that our current 'civilization-level' equivalent to 'blood' is in some way fatally flawed. Maybe someone with a better perception has pointed out these flaws but having only my 'intuition' as limited as it is, I KNOW that our current system of value exchange is not the 'best' that could be. OR possibly, I am just being uncharacteristically optimistic regarding Mankind's potentialities and this clumsy, undependable system we have now IS the best WE can do...

If the company receives back the current estimated value of its employee's 'investments', he will have provided his company a ~14.5% return on investment. This is not an insignificant return on a roughly six month investment. The best course here for the company might be for them to reinstate Mr Ishii and let him 'steal' some more.

Why do you put 'steal' in quotes? Are you indicating he didn't actually steal the money, and that he just took out a loan of some sort?

I wonder what exactly his plan even was after he took the money. Did he plan to run away to some country and think he get to spend any of it? Because this whole scheme is so stupid.

Exactly, how could he possibly have gotten away with it? Maybe flea to Russia?

StrangerlandToday 04:40 am JST

"Why do you put 'steal' in quotes? Are you indicating he didn't actually steal the money, and that he just took out a loan of some sort?"

Interpret it as you will. That is the nature of 'words'...But if the U.S. returns the $154Meg but keeps the additional $26Meg as I suspect they will, THAT will be 'stealing'...

@diagonalslip who will get the interest I wonder? The people who read the store will share in the “interest”.