Soaring Bitcoin prices means Swedish government now owes 1.2 million convicted felons

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The Swedish government is required to pay a convicted drug dealer 33 bitcoins around 14 million crowns (1.2 million) after the price of the cryptocurrency skyrocketed while in custody.

The violator was deprived of his proceeds when he was convicted in 2019, when the price of bitcoin was less than a tenth of its current value.

By the time the Swedish Enforcement Authority auctioned the cryptocurrency, only three of the 36 seized bitcoins had to be sold to pay off the debt.

The lesson to be learned is to retain the value of bitcoin, that the crime profit should be 36 bitcoins, regardless of the value of bitcoin at the time, prosecutor Tove Kullberg reportedly told Swedish radio.

This had consequences that I was unable to foresee at the time.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have become popular among some criminals due to their semi-anonymous nature which makes them difficult to follow. One of the earliest use cases for bitcoin was as an online currency among users of the Silk Road dark web drug market, while cybercriminals and hackers typically demand cryptocurrency when they lead. ransomware attacks.

A 2019 study estimated that 46% of all bitcoin transactions between 2009 and 2017 were for illegal activity, but there has since been a significant increase in consumer apps that have increased the number of legitimate transactions.

Cryptocurrency-fueled crimes have become so prevalent that the US government recently hired a cryptocurrency firm called Anchorage Digital to protect its seized crypto.

I think we should probably invest in internal training at the [prosecution] authority, because cryptocurrency will be a factor to deal with much more than we are today, prosecutor Tove Kullberg reportedly told Swedish radio.

The more we increase the level of knowledge within the organization, the less mistakes we will make.

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