Irish authorities have successfully accessed millions in previously locked Bitcoin, marking a major breakthrough in a long-running criminal asset seizure case.
According to the Irish Times, Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), with support from Europol, managed to open one of 12 cryptocurrency wallets seized in 2019.
The wallet contained roughly 500 Bitcoin worth about $35.5 million at current prices.
The funds had been inaccessible for years after the private keys were lost. Europol reportedly provided “highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources” to access the wallet, although the methodology has not been disclosed.
Authorities say the codes had been stored in a fishing rod case that went missing, effectively locking them out of wallets holding a total of 6,000 Bitcoin now valued at approximately €360 million.
The seized assets are believed to be linked to Clifton Collins, a convicted drug trafficker who invested in Bitcoin as early as 2011–2012, when prices were significantly lower.
Collins reportedly distributed his holdings across multiple wallets for security, recording access keys in a single document that was later lost.
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