German prosecutors seized more than €50 million in bitcoin from a fraudster, yet, the confiscation has been been complete as they cannot unlock the cryptocurrency's wallet password.
Police made repeated unsuccessful efforts to crack the code to gain access to more than 1,700 bitcoins, more than $37,000 each, said a public prosecutor in Kempten.
"We asked him about the password but, he didn't respond. He probably doesn't know it," Attorney General Sebastian Maurer told Reuters on Friday. Prosecutors have also ensured that the hacker cannot access the bitcoins.
The man was sentenced to to more than two years in prison and served his term, yet, he remained silent the whole time about the code.
He was secretly installing software on other computers to employ their power in "mining" bitcoins, which uses excessive electricity.
Bitcoin has risen over the past year, reaching a record high of $ 42,000 in January. It traded at $37,577 on Friday, according to Coindesk.
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