This video should give you a better idea of how anonymous Bitcoin is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AypRF9q0llU
There are also several startups dedicated to performing Bitcoin blockchain analysis for this specific purpose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AypRF9q0llU
There are also several startups dedicated to performing Bitcoin blockchain analysis for this specific purpose.
If the guy didn't get caught, they would have never found anything, unless the thief is dumb enough to send these coins to his exchange.
If it were me, I would randomly mix 40,000 coins between random addresses, random amounts, random times for like a year. Never using the same address again. I would mix them with other coins. You might end up with 10,000 addresses holding random amounts of coins, but that's not a big deal at all. You need some cash? LocalBitcoins in a neighboring town. Or create an online business and buy your own product from yourself. Or build a website, put ads on it, and buy quality traffic with bitcoin (arbitrage).