Czech police arrest darknet founder over $45M Bitcoin donation case

Key Points

1. Tomas Jirikovsky was arrested for allegedly bribing former Justice Minister Pavel Blazek with 468 BTC (worth $45 million at the time) to avoid legal consequences.

2. Jirikovsky previously operated Sheep Marketplace, generating 680 BTC and stealing an additional 841 BTC from users before its shutdown in 2013.

3. In 2017, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement, drug trafficking, and illegal arms possession but was paroled in 2021.

4. The 468 BTC bribe was linked to Nucleus, another darknet marketplace, which recently moved $77.5 million in Bitcoin after nine years of inactivity.

5. A Bitcoin analyst noted that criminal Bitcoin transactions remain traceable, emphasizing accountability in such cases.