Ireland Crime Bureau Loses Private Keys to $378M in Bitcoin.
Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has encountered a major challenge in recovering a massive amount of Bitcoin seized from Clifton Collins, a convicted drug dealer, in 2019.
Collins, who was involved in growing cannabis, had invested in Bitcoin back in 2011 and 2012 when its value was much lower. Today, the Bitcoin he owns is worth an astounding $378 million, but CAB can’t access it because the keys to the wallets are lost.
To protect his investment, Collins divided his Bitcoin into 12 different virtual wallets. He wrote down the access codes on a piece of paper, which he stored inside a fishing rod case at one of his rented properties.
However, after his arrest, Collins claimed that the case was lost during a break-in. Without the codes, neither Collins nor the authorities have been able to retrieve the Bitcoin.
When CAB seized the Bitcoin in 2019, it was worth approximately $56 million. Since then, the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed, making the inaccessible fortune even more frustrating. Despite the lost codes, CAB remains hopeful that technological advances might one day help recover the locked funds.
While most of Collins’ Bitcoin remains out of reach, he was still forced to surrender assets worth €1.2 million. This included €1 million worth of Bitcoin he could access, along with a Gyro aircraft, a camper van, and a fishing boat.
Despite this major hurdle, CAB has had success in recovering other assets. In 2023, the bureau returned €8.6 million to the exchequer, the largest amount in 15 years. However, the inaccessible $378 million remains a significant challenge for the agency.