Bitcoin "Property" & Theft Scenario

[j3steven]

This question is in regards to stolen coins.

As an example, let's say I was an early bitcoin investor or a whale and have a sum of 500 coins.  Current price @ $500 that's a total of $250,000. I live in the US where per the Federal Govt bitcoin = property.

Now someone steals all my coins, you can use the scenarios of it was password protected and online, paper wallet offline, don't care....just imagine there was a solid attempt to protect them.  If its a local person who stole them can I call my local police?  If its an international theft can I call the FBI?  Can I write off the coins somehow?  If a paper wallet or laptop is stolen with BTC on them can I write them off to my insurance company?  SO MANY QUESTIONS!...

[rjcesq]

Local police are unlikely to help. If you call your local police about a credit card theft, they will tell you to call your credit card company and report the card stolen. If you are a business and have a million credit cards stolen, you call the secret service.

The police are equipped to handle physical crimes and don't do well in the virtual area (unless your soliciting a cop pretending to be 14 year old girl).

You can still file a police report, for whatever purpose, but don't expect them to actually do anything about it.

Now if you really had $250k stolen and you had some evidence about who might have done it, then perhaps you could get some traction in certain police departments, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

The above does not constitute legal advice.

[LostDutchman]

Local police are unlikely to help. If you call your local police about a credit card theft, they will tell you to call your credit card company and report the card stolen. If you are a business and have a million credit cards stolen, you call the secret service.

The police are equipped to handle physical crimes and don't do well in the virtual area (unless your soliciting a cop pretending to be 14 year old girl).

You can still file a police report, for whatever purpose, but don't expect them to actually do anything about it.

Now if you really had $250k stolen and you had some evidence about who might have done it, then perhaps you could get some traction in certain police departments, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

The above does not constitute legal advice.

Might not be legal advice but you have put things very well and you are 100% correct!

[Este Nuno]

I think in general the police are really increasing their resources in the cyber-crime department. So I would totally expect to have a case like that fully investigated in a western country. Maybe I'm just optimistic though.

[LostDutchman]

If you think the police in the USA give a rat's ass about Bitcoin, you'd better re-think things.

[sugarfree]

If a local person stole it of course you can I call your local police, but they hardly will help you.

[whtchocla7e]

What is a stolen coin?

[RodeoX]

It should be reported to the local police. However no one there is going to know what you are talking about. It's not that they don't want to help, they just wont know what to do any more than you do. 

[johnatan32]

It depends on the state respects the Bitcoin