4th February, 2021
dpa/NAN
German court authorities are unable to cash in more than 60 million dollars (50 million euros) in bitcoins confiscated from a convicted fraudster as he has not revealed the passwords, a court spokesman said on Thursday.
The court in the southern town of Kempten has been able to sell just 86 of the 1,800 bitcoins seized from the man, who created them illegally by hacking the computers of others.
This brought in 500,000 euros.
Speaking after details of the coins were revealed in the local press, the court spokesman said the digital coins were protected by multiple passwords, and that IT specialists had been unable to crack them.
It was also possible that the fraudster had forgotten them.
The man, who was first convicted in 2014, has now served his sentence.
The court authorities have secured his bitcoin wallet in a way that prevents him from gaining access to it.