{"id":905109,"date":"2026-05-11T08:21:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/irish-police-unlock-seized-bitcoin-wallet-worth-e30-million-in-breakthrough-case\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T08:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:21:20","slug":"irish-police-unlock-seized-bitcoin-wallet-worth-e30-million-in-breakthrough-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/irish-police-unlock-seized-bitcoin-wallet-worth-e30-million-in-breakthrough-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Police Unlock Seized Bitcoin Wallet Worth \u20ac30 million in Breakthrough Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bitcoins <\/p>\n<div>\n<figure>\n            <img width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2026\/03\/27135919\/bitcoin-ireland-seized-1200x675.jpeg\" alt=\"bitcoins bitcoin ireland seized\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  ><figcaption>Source:AdobeStock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div>\n<div id=\"blockquote-block_86aee5f1986c4056c74f36b47a22562a\">\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>Irish authorities accessed a previously locked Bitcoin wallet containing 500 BTC tied to criminal proceeds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>The wallet is part of a larger seizure of 6,000 BTC that remained inaccessible for years due to lost keys.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>Europol\u2019s technical support enabled the breakthrough, raising prospects of unlocking additional wallets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com.au\/category\/ireland\/\">Ireland\u2019s<\/a> Criminal Assets Bureau has successfully accessed a cryptocurrency <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com.au\/category\/crypto-wallets\/\">wallet<\/a> that had remained locked for years, recovering 500 <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com.au\/category\/bitcoin\/\">Bitcoin<\/a> linked to criminal proceeds. The assets are valued at approximately \u20ac30 million (AU$50.1 million), following an operation conducted with support from Europol.<\/p>\n<p>This marks the first time authorities have been able to open any of the 12 wallets associated with the case, which together contain 6,000 Bitcoin worth about \u20ac360 million (AU$601.2 million). The wallets were seized after the arrest of Clifton Collins, a drug dealer convicted of cannabis cultivation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com.au\/news\/cftc-launches-innovation-task-force-spanning-crypto-ai-and-prediction-markets-133382\/\">CFTC Launches Innovation Task Force Spanning Crypto, AI and Prediction Markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-tech-breakthrough-ends-years-long-wait\">Tech Breakthrough Ends Years-Long Wait<\/h2>\n<p>Collins acquired the Bitcoin in 2011 and 2012 and distributed it across multiple wallets as its value increased. He recorded the access credentials and concealed them inside a fishing rod case stored at one of his rental properties.<\/p>\n<p>However, the document containing the keys was later lost, either during a burglary or when the property was cleared after his arrest. Without the access codes, authorities were unable to retrieve the funds despite holding the wallets.<\/p>\n<p>The recent breakthrough came after years of waiting for technological advancements that could enable recovery. Europol provided specialised technical assistance and decryption capabilities that were essential to unlocking the wallet.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"117\"  alt=\"bitcoins Rachel Lourdesamy\" data-eio=\"l\" data-old-src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAHgAAAB1AQAAAACtgRihAAAAAnRSTlMAAHaTzTgAAAAXSURBVDjLY2AYBaNgFIyCUTAKRgGlAAAHUAABKAP+6AAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2025\/04\/29143440\/6DB46441-C6BE-4333-B056-62B1691ABF82.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2025\/04\/29143440\/6DB46441-C6BE-4333-B056-62B1691ABF82.jpg 2x\">\n            <\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Author<\/p>\n<h3>Rachel Lourdesamy<\/h3>\n<p>Rachel is a freelance writer based in Sydney with experience within financial services, marketing, and corporate communications in the APAC region. An avid reader and a graduate of the University of Sydney, she covers topics including business, finance and human interest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section>\n<h3>You may also like<\/h3>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p> Rachel Lourdesamy <a href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.com.au\/news\/irish-police-unlock-seized-bitcoin-wallet-worth-e30-million-in-breakthrough-case-133415\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source:AdobeStock Irish authorities accessed a previously locked Bitcoin wallet containing 500 BTC tied to criminal proceeds. The wallet is part of a larger seizure of 6,000 BTC that remained inaccessible for years due to lost keys. Europol\u2019s technical support enabled the breakthrough, raising prospects of unlocking additional wallets. Ireland\u2019s Criminal Assets Bureau has successfully accessed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":905110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29741,294],"tags":[11476],"class_list":["post-905109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-irish","category-police","tag-bitcoins"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}