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In 2025, Spanish law enforcement agencies reported one of the largest seizures of digital assets in the country's history. Currently, it is known not only about the blocking of the largest crypto wallets with 13,029 BTC and 107,667 ETH, respectively, but also other assets. The source does not disclose his name but claims that the funds belonged to a Spanish hacker of Italian origin. Back in 2012, he exploited a vulnerability in the Silk Road platform and criminally took possession of the funds, effectively stealing from the system. Moreover, the methods and audacity with which he hacked the system are impressive. The criminal himself remained elusive to investigators for over a decade.
Using an anonymous online store specializing in illegal trade and located in the .onion domain zone of the anonymous Tor network, the hacker managed to withdraw over $3 billion. By creating a number of fake accounts, he “deposited” small, almost symbolic amounts into the accounts and then managed to withdraw hundreds of times more. He transferred the bitcoins he obtained to cold wallets, which remained out of reach of law enforcement for years. In addition, he kept some in Bitcoin and transferred the rest to Ethereum.
To avoid detection by the special services, the hacker constantly changed his place of residence, traveling around the world. He preferred world-famous resorts: Bora Bora (French Polynesia, Oceania), Miami Beach (USA, North America), Sentosa (Singapore, Asia), Costa Smeralda (Italy, Europe), Mallorca (Spain, Europe). He used the last island on the list, with its family resorts and beautiful bays, to “lie low.” Using the services of one and the same escort, he played the role of a happy family man, creating the illusion of a legitimate lifestyle. In his travels, the hacker used fake documents, rented luxury apartments, and tried to avoid leaving any digital traces, and these locations provided maximum comfort.
The most impressive thing was how he stored the stolen cryptocurrency. During a search of one of his Spanish estates, a box of Italian shoes was found hidden in a closet. Inside the box, the special services found flash drives, hard drives, and a laptop with access to crypto wallets. Such a “hiding place” became a symbol of the paradoxes of the digital age: billions of dollars in an ordinary box, next to old shoes.
It is noteworthy that special service agents, using blockchain transaction analysis, were still able to track the movement of funds and track down the criminal, despite all his years of hiding and traveling. In a global context, this is a signal and a reminder that anonymity in the world of cryptocurrencies has its limits, and even the most secure storage methods do not guarantee impunity for criminals.
