FBI had the private key to the ransomware Bitcoin wallet
(media.greatawakening.win)
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Who's in your wallet?
You don't need to give a running service your keys. There's no reason for anyone to have their keys unless they were storing the btc on an exchange, which anyone who knows anything about btc knows that they will cooperate with law enforcement.
Doesn't make much sense for a group sophisticated enough to pull off this kind of attack to keep ill gotten coins on an exchange. Or to even use a tumbler. There's much better ways of obfuscating transactions, including not use btc in the first place.
None of this whole thing makes much sense.
If the FBI uses $200K in cash for a drug sting, they have a requirement to recover that $200K to return it after the sting. I presume it is no different for a CIA operation in which case it makes plenty of sense.
That actually does make a lot of sense
justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1402056/download
Ohhhhhh shit. Tell me more. Did they crack it or did the party at fault give it up for part of a deal?
According to the report, the agent watched the coins move across several addresses until it landed on an exchange, at which point they contacted the exchange and requested the private key through a warrant.
The only warrant I can find was issued after the affidavit was signed. Meaning the FBI had the private key before they had a warrant issued.... Essentially like saying "we already have the key to the safe deposit box, may we have permission to open it"
The warrant does not compel the exchange or wallet holder to provide anything.