The man who refused to hand over 120 Bitcoins, currently worth $9.7 million, to the US government, was found emptied the court. The judge warns he will be fined $10,000 a day until funds are transferred.
The court’s application accused Juan Carlos Reinozo of “seriously violating” the warrant issued by a Puerto Rican judge, giving him 24 hours worth $9.7 million. Bitcoin to a government-controlled address.
He is said to have moved funds into five separate crypto wallets in a series of transactions that were subsequently tracked in the chain.
The court’s filings described these moves as “frenzy” and were made with “more accurate intuition than Delphi’s Oracle.”
The payment came shortly after Reinoso’s defense counsel, Walter Reinoso, accepted the warrant on behalf of his client.
“The temporary proximity between warrant notice and the movement of the covered assets is strongly suggested, suggesting that Reynoso attempted to hamper justice by avoiding a formally issued order,” the submission states.
Juan Carlos Reynoso has been warned that unless BTC is sent to a government-controlled wallet, there is an additional fine and potentially jail.
The court’s filing does not clarify why Reynoso was ordered to confiscate the Bitcoin. And none of the federal lawyers attached to the case have responded to requests for comment yet. Decryption.
The filing simply states that the FBI agent seized one of its laptops in June 2024 and included software for its ledger hardware wallet.
Privacy advocates are quick to emphasize that transactions are on-chain traceable, claiming that this represents “privacy is the biggest weakness of BTC.”
Privacy is Bitcoin’s biggest weakness. Hopefully these seizure orders will open your eyes.
– Mallard Beekman₿⚡🥕 (@bill_fowler_) March 10, 2025
Another tweet states, “This case is the perfect example of how the government cannot confiscate Bitcoin. This guy can jump on a plane with 12 memorized words (species phrases) and fly to a non-extracted country and start a new life.
It is unclear how this impasse between Reynoso and the US government will be resolved, and his attempt to destroy the warrant is denied.
But that will certainly spark more debate given that Donald Trump’s new strategic reserve is based on BTC seized from criminals.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
Discover more from Earlybirds Invest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.