US court: bitcoin investor forced to hand over private keys.
is required to hand over all physical devices used to store #cryptocurrency and return more than $1 million to US tax authorities.
In a precedent-setting decision for #digital assets, a federal court in Texas ordered Frank Richard Algren III to turn over all private keys and access codes to his wallets. The decision marks a turning point in the relationship between the US judicial system and the world of #cryptocurrencies .
Last December, defendant Algren, an investor who bought about 1,366 bitcoins worth about $465 in 2015, was sentenced to two years in prison for tax evasion. The case arose after the defendant intentionally underreported more than $3.7 million in capital gains from the sale of bitcoins between 2017 and 2019.
Judge Robert Pittman of the Federal Court in Austin found that not only the defendant Algren, but also his family and associates, had a restraining order issued against them requiring them to identify and turn over all physical devices used to store cryptocurrency, public and private keys and initial phrases. The order also included a prohibition on transferring cryptocurrency without prior court authorization.
In 2017, Algren sold approximately half of his bitcoins for $5,800 each, artificially inflating the purchase price on his tax return to reduce his taxable capital gains. He subsequently sold more than $650,000 worth of bitcoins between 2018 and 2019 without reporting those sales.
sentence includes two years in prison, plus one year of probation, and payment of approximately $1.1 million in restitution to the U. S. government.
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