Is it illegal for someone to hack my BTC wallet?

[Hamphser]

I'm not clear on this one point.  If somebody got a hold of my private key and moved funds from an address that I claimed on the ledger, is that against the law?  At what point could that be considered a crime?  For example, if they hacked into my machine and stolen the private key; if they sniped the pk while snooping on a public access connection; brute forced the pk into existence; or just plane snapped a shot of my qr code over my shoulder....ect  In which of those examples could I pursue prosecution for the theft of my coin?  

For me, the word "hack" already sounding illegal and should require urgent crying out to the necessary authority if such happens to your bitcoin wallet.

That necessary authority you do mean doesnt exist because theres no division that do make handle on these kind of cases because they do know that it would really be a big work and time consuming thing if they would try to trace up the hacker or scammer which they would end up and saying that this is a pointless thing. In the sense that someone is hacking your wallet then its considered illegal because it is stealing but on laws it cant be considered yet as of now so once hacked then dont expect for retrieval.

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[eCrypto]

sure it is illegal

[Prinox2]

I'm not clear on this one point.  If somebody got a hold of my private key and moved funds from an address that I claimed on the ledger, is that against the law?  At what point could that be considered a crime?  For example, if they hacked into my machine and stolen the private key; if they sniped the pk while snooping on a public access connection; brute forced the pk into existence; or just plane snapped a shot of my qr code over my shoulder....ect  In which of those examples could I pursue prosecution for the theft of my coin?  

For me, the word "hack" already sounding illegal and should require urgent crying out to the necessary authority if such happens to your bitcoin wallet.

That necessary authority you do mean doesnt exist because theres no division that do make handle on these kind of cases because they do know that it would really be a big work and time consuming thing if they would try to trace up the hacker or scammer which they would end up and saying that this is a pointless thing. In the sense that someone is hacking your wallet then its considered illegal because it is stealing but on laws it cant be considered yet as of now so once hacked then dont expect for retrieval.

Ain't there appropriate authorities ( especially  in the countries where bitcoins are recognized ) that handles cyber theft issues?
Those are the authorities I'm talking about....

[Harlot]

Anything that is done with fraud or deceit will always be considered illegal and you can have the power to ask the help from the police or any proper authorities. Also if there is no fraud and deceit involve your Bitcoin is your "Private Property" only you can spend or use it as nobody else have the right to use what is yours. The problem here is it is nearly impossible to retrieve your Bitcoin ever again as it exist virtually which means it can travel to a lot of different addresses by the time it has been stolen from you.

[Carmen01]

Yes it is because it's a wallet it similar to wallet in real world even its digital money wallet online we dont have assurance if our wallet that have btc will be ok because they can access that if the owner is scammer so to avoid that kind of situation we can add private key in our wallet or 2fa so are the only person that can open it

[cjmoles]

Anything that is done with fraud or deceit will always be considered illegal and you can have the power to ask the help from the police or any proper authorities. Also if there is no fraud and deceit involve your Bitcoin is your "Private Property" only you can spend or use it as nobody else have the right to use what is yours. The problem here is it is nearly impossible to retrieve your Bitcoin ever again as it exist virtually which means it can travel to a lot of different addresses by the time it has been stolen from you.

But, according to the protocol, the owner of the private key that corresponds to the public address on the ledger is the true owner of the bitcoin contained in that wallet, right?  The ledger is distributed, the transactions verified, and the owner is confirmed on the blockchain which overrides any type of third party arbitration.  Who has a larger claim ---> the current possessor of the key, or ---> the previous possessor of the key?

In other words, if there was an authority that could reverse the state of a transaction, then that would violate the protocol and the ledger would be obsolete.  If there were an authority greater than the blockchain protocol itself, one could spend their bitcoin, claim theft, and reverse the transaction.

So, at what point, in what specific situation, would obtaining a private key be considered theft under the color of law?

[Cryptoahead]

Yes, It is illegal for someone to hack your BTC wallet because the coin is yours and no one have the access to it without your permission.

[btccointalk]

Yes, it is illegal to hack others BTC wallet  and should be taken as thieves but as we are already warned about the security and privacy policy of our wallet, I guess there will be no such authority who will inspect the issue . Most probably the authority will consider our claim null.

[Netnox]

You have to pay taxes on profits from Bitcoin. That means that the government recognizes Bitcoin as an asset with some value. Therefore it is illegal to hack in to someone's wallet and steal the coins. But in reality, you will be left with few options if your coins are stolen. If the hacker is from some foreign nation, then getting back your coins may be next to impossible.

[genolica]

ofcourse, ethically and naturally that situation is a crime. you don't have to gain access to someone's wallet without full permission, and it can be used to hide the hacker's original identity for crime jobs

[MCVXYZ]

If you found their private key by mathematical computation or guessing, I think it will not be considered illegal. But if you got that by using malware or trojan that may be illegal.
If you hacked Nobody can expect you can claim that wallet is yours.

In my opinion its an unjust enrichment case(And you are obliged to return it).Which is provided in the law of all countries.This norm protects owner's property,But in this situation,In crypto world, it may  has only declaration-formal disposition.She/He don't have permission to find ''victim's'' private key,Its just a theft and illegal activity.(if you have intention.but somehow,if you find it without intention,it wouldn't be crime and this case is resolved by Private law and not by criminal law)

[bosede1]

According to your question, is it illegal to hack your wallet by someone, naturally or let me say normally taken someones property without the person knowledge is called stealing. To go to the extent of wallet that requires private key no other name is attached to it than illegal. Illegal mean something against the law and that term can only be use if bitcoin is legalized in your country but seriously is illegal

[qwertyup23]

I'm not clear on this one point.  If somebody got a hold of my private key and moved funds from an address that I claimed on the ledger, is that against the law?  At what point could that be considered a crime?  For example, if they hacked into my machine and stolen the private key; if they sniped the pk while snooping on a public access connection; brute forced the pk into existence; or just plane snapped a shot of my qr code over my shoulder....ect  In which of those examples could I pursue prosecution for the theft of my coin?  

I think the answer primarily depends on the laws and regulations of the country that you are staying. The scenario given is very situational, yet intriguing since this things seem to happen commonly. To give you an example, to government agency of my country (Philippines) sees bitcoin as property, therefore being subject to hacking equates to stealing which is punishable under our penal laws. Though proving and getting the culprit might seem impossible, if proven guilt then the individual may face charges against him. Again, this is really dependent on the country that you are staying since some government agencies have their own agenda/perspective when it comes to bitcoin so you better check-it out first.

[Coffee135]

Any theft of your personal information is a crime. But due to the fact that bitcoin is not officially recognized currency and is not the official price it will be very difficult to put a substantive claim. Therefore it is better to protect yourself beforehand. Now there are smartphones that catch someone's eye and automatically hide the app. Maybe this will help you?

[ace4549]

Yes, invading the account of someone without his/her permission is a wrong practice that should not be tolerated. In this case all people caught by doing this such thing will punished by the government.

[Habakkuk77]

Hacking is not good and it is considered as stealing.
It is unlawful.
It is our duty to protect our own btc wallet
because if someone steals your btc government is not accountable of that.

[GreenBits]

I'm not clear on this one point.  If somebody got a hold of my private key and moved funds from an address that I claimed on the ledger, is that against the law?  At what point could that be considered a crime?  For example, if they hacked into my machine and stolen the private key; if they sniped the pk while snooping on a public access connection; brute forced the pk into existence; or just plane snapped a shot of my qr code over my shoulder....ect  In which of those examples could I pursue prosecution for the theft of my coin?  

oh hell to the yes. hacking, or the contemporary meaning of it, is not taking anything more so than accessing something without your permission. for the edification of the community, please see here:

Criminal offenses under the Act[edit]
(a) Whoever—

(1) having knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access, and by means of such conduct having obtained information that has been determined by the United States Government pursuant to an Executive order or statute to require protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national defense or foreign relations, or any restricted data, as defined in paragraph y. of section 11 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, with reason to believe that such information so obtained could be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation willfully communicates, delivers, transmits, or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it;
(2) intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access, and thereby obtains—
(A) information contained in a financial record of a financial institution, or of a card issuer as defined in section 1602 (n) [1] of title 15, or contained in a file of a consumer reporting agency on a consumer, as such terms are defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.);
(B) information from any department or agency of the United States; or
(C) information from any protected computer;

Now mind you, this is in the States. but the breach itself is the crime here, the criminality is only enhanced if they steal something, or use the information in a malicious way (blackmail for example).

and if they use fraud to access the wallet, beyond the technical expertise/ tools that are required to breach a system, then that is a unique crime as well.

[kris_wolf]

Of course hacking per se is not illegal; the actual offense is something like “gaining unauthorized access to a computer”. If it’s not your account, and you keep guessing the password or reset questions till you get in, clearly that’s unauthorized access.

[carlfebz2]

I'm not clear on this one point.  If somebody got a hold of my private key and moved funds from an address that I claimed on the ledger, is that against the law?  At what point could that be considered a crime?  For example, if they hacked into my machine and stolen the private key; if they sniped the pk while snooping on a public access connection; brute forced the pk into existence; or just plane snapped a shot of my qr code over my shoulder....ect  In which of those examples could I pursue prosecution for the theft of my coin?  

I think the answer primarily depends on the laws and regulations of the country that you are staying. The scenario given is very situational, yet intriguing since this things seem to happen commonly. To give you an example, to government agency of my country (Philippines) sees bitcoin as property, therefore being subject to hacking equates to stealing which is punishable under our penal laws. Though proving and getting the culprit might seem impossible, if proven guilt then the individual may face charges against him. Again, this is really dependent on the country that you are staying since some government agencies have their own agenda/perspective when it comes to bitcoin so you better check-it out first.

Depending on case because tracking hacking incident involves on bitcoin is not really an easy task to be traced unless if you have done it on legal terms just like using up their local wallet which is coins.ph. which if you do tend to hack someones co-users then tracing up would be simple since they are regulated by BSP but talking on other wallet then they don't have the step for it to traced if those funds came from hacking or from legit ones.

[kimochidesh]

Hacking is Illegal in every way. In digital world, If you are entering into someone private space without permission then it is totally an illegal act and should be punishable under law. Now it all depends upon your country's law, how strong is your country's digital law and how seriously they take it.