Irish Criminal Assets Bureau Seizes $378 million Worth of Bitcoin from Drug Dealer But Can't Get It
The Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) holds bitcoin seized from a drug dealer in 2019 and has been unavailable despite its value soaring to 345 million euros ($378 million). In 2020, the Irish High Court ruled that the bitcoin was the result of criminal activity when it was seized from Clifton Collins and was worth around $56 million at the time.
He claims to have hidden a file containing a seed phrase for his BTC wallet in a fishing rod box at a rental property in County Galway. The fishing rod box was lost after a burglary at his home, although cleaning the property after his arrest may have also resulted in the loss of the file. The CAB has been unable to access the bitcoin stored in 12 wallets for the past four years - during which time the price of bitcoin has risen from around $9,000 to more than $62,000 currently.