Bitcoin Crypto & Buying Real Estate - Not As Safe As You Think

[Account Closed]

Well, if you do real estate correctly, it's "pretty safe" But, the IRS found the guy who stole the Crypto.

The point is, if you think having Crypto is "anonymous" you're kidding yourself. Personally, I don't believe in Crypto but then I'm a troglodyte that pays my taxes. And the gov't has better tracking capabilities than you can imagine.

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DOJ grabs $3.36B in bitcoin hidden in popcorn tin of Silk Road thief

https://www.washingtonexaminer...

The Department of Justice announced it seized more than $3 billion worth of bitcoin from a man who stole it from the dark web’s Silk Road more than a decade ago.

Federal agents discovered 50,491 bitcoin on drives hidden inside a popcorn tin and an underground safe while conducting a search warrant at the house of James Zhong of Georgia in November of last year. It was the second-largest cryptocurrency seizure by the DOJ.

On Friday, Zhong, 32, pleaded guilty to scamming the Silk Road, a now-defunct website located on the dark web where users could purchase illicit goods and services using bitcoin, in September 2012.

AGENCY HEADS CALL FOR LEGISLATION GRANTING GREATER AUTHORITY TO REGULATE CRYPTO

He was able to scam Silk Road out of the cryptocurrency, which was used as currency on the site, by depositing bitcoin into multiple fraud accounts registered with the marketplace and then triggering more than 100 withdrawal transactions in quick succession in order to trick Silk Road’s withdrawal-processing system into releasing tens of thousands of bitcoins, according to the DOJ.

“Mr. Zhong executed a sophisticated scheme designed to steal bitcoin from the notorious Silk Road Marketplace. Once he was successful in his heist, he attempted to hide his spoils through a series of complex transactions which he hoped would be enhanced as he hid behind the mystery of the ‘darknet,’” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher.

Silk Road was shut down in October 2013 after the FBI arrested founder Ross Ulbricht, who was later found guilty in a jury trial and sentenced to life in prison.

In addition to seizing the bitcoin, federal agents also seized $661,900 in U.S. currency from Zhong’s house and silver and gold bars.

Zhong pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

“For almost ten years, the whereabouts of this massive chunk of missing Bitcoin had ballooned into an over $3.3 billion mystery,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement. “Thanks to state-of-the-art cryptocurrency tracing and good old-fashioned police work, law enforcement located and recovered this impressive cache of crime proceeds.”