FBI can’t be blamed for wiping hard drive with $345M BTC, say judges

A US appeals court says the FBI isn’t at fault for wiping a drive containing over 3,400 Bitcoin, as its convicted owner never informed the government that he owned the tokens.

A man convicted of identity theft, who claims his hard drive with over 3,400 Bitcoin was seized and wiped by the FBI, has lost his lawsuit against the government in a US appeals court. 

A three-judge panel at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found on Tuesday that Michael Prime can’t sue the government over the loss of a key to access around 3,443 Bitcoin (BTC), now worth $345 million, as he previously claimed he didn’t own that amount of crypto.

Prime asked a court after he was released from prison in July 2022 for a hard drive containing the Bitcoin to be returned, but the FBI had wiped it as part of its standard procedures, which Prime claimed was illegal; the judges said.

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