Can virtual wallets be confiscated by courts?

[BTCGOLD]

There is many wallets that have been conficated. I think there are only two possibilities for the wallet to be confiscated. It may be the takeover of data storages (hard disks, CD/DVD, memory stick..) on which there are private keys saved, or the overtaking of exchange wallet.

[2chase]

I like cryptocurrency, including because the things about which the author of this topic says - really have a place to be. This means that no one can force you to tell your private keys to someone if you don’t want it, it’s just physically impossible to do, none of the law enforcement officers will torture you in order to get this information from you.

[basyang]

I am just curious and have been googling on whether the law has rules about virtual wallets. Maybe I am just not really familiar with the technical terms so I do not understand well. Or I just didn't use the correct search terms.
To give an example, if you have debts or have to pay for alimony or something of the like, are virtual wallets included in your assets to be seized or something?
According to the summary of this article: https://www.acamstoday.org/real-considerations-for-law-enforcement-in-seizing-virtual-currency/
"The bottom line for law enforcement is that they cannot seize virtual currency if they do not recognize it and do not know where to look. Even if evidence of virtual currency is found, unless law enforcement is equipped with the knowledge and the tools to take secure possession of it, then it will not happen and criminals will keep their ill-gotten gains."
So does that mean that the law will not touch your virtual wallet in case of debt, for example?

Well, for me it depends on the government of a country if they banned or legal or have a regulation about using cryptocurrency, the court can not confiscate your cryptocurrency if they have no basis or any rules that can break because of using virtual currency. So if you know how to use cryptocurrency avoid using it in illegal activities because they might do an action to stop using it.

[TheClownSong]

If virtual money or cryptocurrency regulated by government, for courts its more easily because its trackable. The best thing about cryptocurrency is the ledger is transparant and anybody can see the transaction and its hard to duplicate the transaction data. Government can confiscated virtual money because they have regulation about it if the money used for illegal transaction or criminal activity

[senin]

Such a possibility is quite probable, however, a number of conditions are necessary for this.
Firstly, cryptocurrency in the state must be legalized and have a certain legal status. Without this, it is very difficult for courts to make decisions regarding cryptocurrencies.
Secondly, the court must have at its disposal information about a secret key or another way of accessing the wallet where the cryptocurrency is located. Without this, any court decision on the confiscation of cryptocurrency will not be implemented, and therefore it makes no sense to make it.

[bitbunnny]

These wallets have to be placed somwhere, they need to have some provider who has the obligation to provide requested data to law enforcement and other authorities.
So, the answer is yes, for the needs of criminal procedure or other legal mather wallets and funds they contain could be confiscated.
But of course that also depends on the legal system from country to country and how are cryptocurrencies and crypto services defined and regulated.

[Brunus]

Well, if you're stupid enough to let your court know your address, you deserve to have it confiscated ...
Otherwise, it's so easy - at least for now - to keep it a secret that there's no reason to worry.

[darkangel11]

Well, if you're stupid enough to let your court know your address, you deserve to have it confiscated ...
Otherwise, it's so easy - at least for now - to keep it a secret that there's no reason to worry.

And here's when we're touching theory vs practice. Theoretically court can order you to do almost anything. They can take property, put you into debt, search your house, take all your personal belongings even the ones that don't belong to you but someone else like friends and family, they can take your freedom they can make you work for them they can even take your voting rights. This is their ability but to execute is another thing. We all know they can't take your money if they can't find it. They can't put you in jail if they can't catch you, so if you don't give them your private key they won't get it.