(Bad News?) Irish Police Crack First of 12 Bitcoin Wallets in $418M Drug

[Block Blocks]

Please note: This is not FUD being posted to scare people. Can we please discuss the facts and try to determine if the threat is really dangerous for the existence of a strong BTC.

Irish Police Crack First of 12 Bitcoin Wallets in $418M Drug Seizure

...
* Europol provided technical expertise and decryption resources to crack the wallet...
....
....The breakthrough came through an operation supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, which provided "highly complex technical expertise and decryption resources vital to the success of the operation," according to a Garda statement shared with the Irish Times.

https://www.mexc.com/news/980588

Highlights:
* The 12 wallets were obtained by authorities in 2019
* After years of frustration they have cracked/decrypted a valuable bitcoin stash in one of the wallets
* The seed phrases were permanently lost years ago

For discussion: How is Bitcoin considered safe if the Government can now access and decrypt private keys?**
Also, is saying (for example) "Oh those are old addresses" similar to admitting all old addresses can now/soon be cracked by top experts?
**(EDIT) Honestly, it's not completely clear if they literally broke Bitcoin's encryption, or busted into the wallet software and found the keys.

Your thoughts?
 

[Davidvictorson]

There’s just so much the government can do that regular folks don’t know about. I do believe there are advanced technologies that the government has that are yet to be commercialized. So in terms of what they did with the bitcoin wallet, it is just in my estimation, the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible.
Bitcoin is still safe though, they only go after the bad guys.

[OmegaStarScream]

The article don't mention how this was done but if I had to guess I would say he had a wallet file that got recovered then bruteforced for using weak password? Not really a big deal. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't done using the address alone if that's what you're implying.

[Block Blocks]

The article don't mention how this was done but if I had to guess I would say he had a wallet file that got recovered then bruteforced for using weak password? Not really a big deal. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't done using the address alone if that's what you're implying.

They do not make it clear what exactly was decrypted. I agree it seems probable they cracked the wallet to access the private key.

[coinlary]

The article don't mention how this was done but if I had to guess I would say he had a wallet file that got recovered then bruteforced for using weak password? Not really a big deal. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't done using the address alone if that's what you're implying.

Definitely going tobe the case here
There's a similar thread on B&H board though https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5578344

[tbct_mt2]

Irish Police Crack First of 12 Bitcoin Wallets in $418M Drug Seizure

Highlights:
* The 12 wallets were obtained by authorities in 2019
* After years of frustration they have cracked/decrypted a valuable bitcoin stash in one of the wallets
* The seed phrases were permanently lost years ago

Your thoughts?

Cracked/decrypted?

What does this mean?
I am thinking more about decrypting the encrypted wallets and it's possible. It's technically password brute-force and depends on how weak or strong passwords are, as well as available hint characters for passwords, the brute force process would be more easier or more difficult.

In contrast, brute forcing Bitcoin private keys is impossible, forget about it.
Keys and addresses.

The size of Bitcoin’s private key space (2²⁵⁶) is an unfathomably large number. It is approximately 10⁷⁷ in decimal. For comparison, the visible universe is estimated to contain 10⁸⁰ atoms.

Private keys.

The range of 256-bit numbers (and therefore the number of possible private keys) is unfathomably large. Just as it's impossible for the human mind to visualize the true scale of the universe, it's impossible for the human mind to comprehend the sheer size of 256-bit numbers.

There are 2^256 private keys out there: how big is that number?

[X-ray]

We are only getting piece of information here. Who knows if they are just decrypting a weakly encrypted private key not the address itself.

On the other hand, I hope they keep it as a reserve like what the US is doing with their bitcoin.

[BitMaxz]

They do not make it clear what exactly was decrypted. I agree it seems probable they cracked the wallet to access the private key.

Actually, cracking or brute-forcing the wallet file is possible since the tools are publicly available; anyone can brute-force any wallet they want.
If you are not aware of this tool, you can find it from this link below

- https://btcrecover.readthedocs.io

And like OmegaStartScream the Bitcoin wallet file might have a weak password; that is why it can be easily decrypted.

The thing that you can learn from here is to always keep your wallet file safe and make sure to have a strong password, like a long password that contains alphanumeric and special characters with a combination of lower-case and upper-case. It could make brute-force attacks decades before they can crack the wallet.

[bitbollo]

its a not news or at lease as news has missed many elements. probably they just get the password or have the chance to find the private key with other elements (likewise stored inside a laptop).

I am not expecting in any case they could be really able to do anything related to a brute force or being able to crack sha256 encryption in a faster time/or something faster of anyone... If a similar "ability" or tool was already available not only Irish Police was cracking wallets.

[john_egbert]

We are only getting piece of information here. Who knows if they are just decrypting a weakly encrypted private key not the address itself.

On the other hand, I hope they keep it as a reserve like what the US is doing with their bitcoin.

Probably not due to how these BTCs went to them in the first place, depends on the jurisdiction and what it dictates.

[MinoRaiola]

There’s just so much the government can do that regular folks don’t know about. I do believe there are advanced technologies that the government has that are yet to be commercialized. So in terms of what they did with the bitcoin wallet, it is just in my estimation, the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible.
Bitcoin is still safe though, they only go after the bad guys.

You probably right about that. There are options that arent available for regular folks. They are maybe very expensive and has a powerful preformance.

For discussion: How is Bitcoin considered safe if the Government can now access and decrypt private keys?**

For the most scams, you need an insider or information about where, how, and what is it. Without access (in any form), there is no way to take anything from anyone. It is easier to steal someones money from a bank account. That can be done in a matter of minutes. Bitcoin is so mutch more safty. You can even steal cash faster

My view starts before the hack takes place. If you can prevent anyone from knowing where something is, that makes things much safer.

[FortuneFollower]

For the most scams, you need an insider or information about where, how, and what is it. Without access (in any form), there is no way to take anything from anyone. It is easier to steal someones money from a bank account. That can be done in a matter of minutes. Bitcoin is so mutch more safty. You can even steal cash faster

My view starts before the hack takes place. If you can prevent anyone from knowing where something is, that makes things much safer.

Agreed. The gov probably just cracked how to find his phrase or it wasn't safely guarded, or else - it was somewhere in digital space too, where they digged it out through the means they deemed necessary.

[Kelward]

There’s just so much the government can do that regular folks don’t know about. I do believe there are advanced technologies that the government has that are yet to be commercialized. So in terms of what they did with the bitcoin wallet, it is just in my estimation, the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible.
Bitcoin is still safe though, they only go after the bad guys.

It goes to show that anything is possible and if a technically advanced government wants to come for a wallet that there are possibilities of decrypting it, if hope that these methods don't go public so that hackers wouldn't use it to gain access to steal people's coins. My guess is that the wallet could have wake passwords and they luckily figured it out after trials so it's a lesson for us to use strong password that would be very hard to crack. I also hope that they only try whatever advanced technology or guesses on suspected wallets, it won't be good for the reputation of Bitcoin if people have the notion that a government can gain access to their none custodial wallets.

[ABCbits]

**(EDIT) Honestly, it's not completely clear if they literally broke Bitcoin's encryption, or busted into the wallet software and found the keys.

Bitcoin itself doesn't use encryption cryptography. Each wallet may use different encryption to encrypt the wallet file, where the user can set either weak or strong password.

The article don't mention how this was done but if I had to guess I would say he had a wallet file that got recovered then bruteforced for using weak password? Not really a big deal.

There's also possibility the wallet file itself encrypted with weak encryption, that can be brute-forced at faster rate.

[PrivacyG]

Older Addresses WILL become more vulnerable in time in the same way an outdated Operating System does.  Bitcoin was 'upgraded' before and will continue to be and one of the reasons is that there are some issues we will run in to that we will want to rather avoid.  The hottest such topic right now is Quantum Computing.

Authorities will use what ever mix of words they can use to make you believe they have super natural abilities.  The Security of a Bitcoin Private Key or Seed, unless compromised by the user, is mathematically provable and the Government does not possess magic to make it an easy job for them to crack it.  They will want you to THINK they can do magic and to be afraid of their abilities, but in reality there is no such thing yet.

[PepeLapiu]

The Blue wallet on my phone can just be opened without even a password. If you can unlock my phone, you can steal all the coin on my Blue wallet. No need to break bitcoin, you just break weak security practices.

The Electrum wallet on my phone requires a password. But that password is a lot harder to brute force than the 12 words.

[Z-tight]

There’s just so much the government can do that regular folks don’t know about. I do believe there are advanced technologies that the government has that are yet to be commercialized. So in terms of what they did with the bitcoin wallet, it is just in my estimation, the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible.

Lol, they didn't bruteforce the private keys of the wallet, if that is what you believe they did. Anyone who has your wallet file, and has the knowledge and necessary tools can attempt to bruteforce the password, their success or otherwise would depend on how strong your password is. So law enforcement has not done anything out of the ordinary here, as you seem to imagine.

[Renampun]

There is no further detail on what they did; it only states that they gained access to the Bitcoin wallet, it does not mention that they decrypted the Bitcoin private key or seed phrase, because that would be impossible for them to do. so it’s most likely that they performed a brute-force on the wallet, obtained the private key, and then accessed it. if that’s the case, it makes sense regarding what they did.

[coinlary]

The Blue wallet on my phone can just be opened without even a password. If you can unlock my phone, you can steal all the coin on my Blue wallet. No need to break bitcoin, you just break weak security practices.

The Electrum wallet on my phone requires a password. But that password is a lot harder to brute force than the 12 words.

Both can have a password. Almost every self custody wallet allows that and at the same time, you can decide to leave your wallet unencrypted. It is a choice which isn't forced by a wallet.

If you choose to use it without a password then it doesn't matter Electrum or BlueWallet. Anyone that can access your device can access it and it is not limited to mobile devices. Electrum asks to set up a password while creating your wallet, I don't think BlueWallet does that.

Did you purposely write this?

[dansus021]

Bitcoin for Dr*g dealer and other shady things isnt new, the United States alone already seized bitcoin from multiple network of criminal and in total maybe hit 300 thousand of bitcoin and they sell regularly. Germany did China did and maybe lot of other country did.

This short term news like this wont really impact in the long run.

so if the irish police decide to sell it now there are other people buying it let say Michael Saylor with their Strategy is buying worth billion in couple month