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Comment by _cs2017_ | Hacker News Reader

_cs2017_·

Is it actually usable, sellable Bitcoin worth $15B? Or is it some kind of storage that the owner couldn't really use easily for some reason?

$15B of real wealth is a large amount even for a powerful family, so I am surprised it's not a headline news in global media.

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The forfeiture complaint [1] says:

> Chen personally maintained records of the wallet addresses and seed phrases associated with the private keys for each.

So it sounds like they have the seed phrases and thus the private keys.

[1] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.53...

is Chen in custody?

If not, why wouldn't he just transfer the funds to a new seed?

All the wallets were drained years ago and [1] says the bitcoin "are already in the government’s possession, custody and control".

[1] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.53...

I'm now completely confused. Wallets were drained years ago? So $15B worth of bitcoin was already transferred? From whom to whom? And then why is this entire post considered news, if the wallet is empty?

My guess is that as soon as feds got their hands on the seed phrases they transferred the bitcoin to a wallet they made. The case then ground on for a few more years and now that they have the indictments all lined up, they are actually doing the forfeiture process.

The actual taking of the bitcoin is merely taking custody of the bitcoin. The forfeiture process changes the actual _ownership_. Think in terms of when the feds take cash from a car. FIRST they actually take the cash THEN LATER they file the forfeiture.

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