The Criminal Assets Bureau has been unable to realise the value of 6,000 seized bitcoins which are worth just under €370m because the access codes to digital wallets have been lost. CAB has, though, seized and sold cryptocurrency worth almost €6.5m in the past 10 years, according to new figures from the Department of Justice. CAB became the first law enforcement agency in the world to seize Ethereum in 2016, which it subsequently sold through a cryptocurrency exchange for €22,656. He had hidden the access codes to 12 digital wallets inside the aluminium cap of a fishing rod case in his rented house in Connemara, Co Galway. Last week, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan confirmed the digital wallets seized by the State remain inaccessible and the assets cannot be sold.

Source: Irish Examiner March 24, 2026 19:52 UTC