Bitcoin seized following the arrest of James Zhong in

Dude Caught With $1B of Illegal Bitcoin After Calling Police on Himself

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An incredible story has surfaced after the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that it seized more a record-breaking 50,000 Bitcoin (worth US$1.13 billion today) linked to the dark web marketplace Silk Road following the arrest of a guy called ‘James Zhong’ in Georgia.

But wait, it gets better.

As reported by Protos, the police only discovered the stolen Bitcoin (BTC) after Zhong called the police to “report a burglary” back in 2019. He told police at the time that a number of different valuables had been stolen, including “a lot of Bitcoin”. 

Apparently this was enough to get investigators from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) interested, and through a mix of “cutting edge crypto tracing” and “good old fashioned police work” they managed to link Zhong to a major financial crime that occurred 10 years ago. 

$1 billion in Bitcoin stashed in a “popcorn tin” 

So where does one keep more than $1 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin? For Zhong, the best place was in the bottom of a “popcorn tin” hidden under a bunch of blankets in a floor safe, which investigators claim wasn’t exactly too hard to find.