The Kraken exchange оказала содействие British police in recovering cryptocurrency stolen from IOTA users in 2018.
At the time, Dutch citizen Vibo Viersma created a malicious website to generate seed phrases used when creating an IOTA wallet. Because all secret keys were prearranged by the attacker, he gained access to users’ balances and stole more than $4 million in cryptocurrency.
As part of the investigation, officers from SEROCU confiscated about £2.4 million ($2.9 million) in various digital assets.
Part of this amount went to pay the fine imposed on Viersma in January 2023. He was also sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
The remaining cryptocurrency, about £1.9 million ($2.3 million), was distributed by authorities among the victims, who currently number between 50 and 60 people worldwide.
To convert the digital assets into fiat, SEROCU enlisted the help of Kraken. The legality of handling the stolen assets was overseen by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Earlier in October, the UK passed a bill that simplifies confiscation of crypto assets.