FBI prevails over convicted fraudster in $345M destroyed Bitcoin dispute

A convicted identity thief has lost his appeal against Uncle Sam after claiming federal agents destroyed a seized hard drive containing cryptocurrency worth more than $345 million.

Michael Prime sought to recover his belongings from police custody following his release from prison, including a bright orange external hard drive that he claimed held 3,443 Bitcoins.

The Secret Service sent letters to Prime after his release, saying he could have some of his devices back, which would be wiped if he provided them with relevant passwords within 30 days. If not, they'd be wiped and destroyed in the stated timeframe.

Three judges for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, who rejected his appeal this week, wrote in their opinion [PDF] that Prime had responded to the letters requesting a pickup time, but three days before he was due to meet with the Secret Service, he filed his first lawsuit ...