Surprise Country Hit by Bitcoin (BTC)-Related Scandal, Leading to High-Level Resignation

Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blažek has resigned following controversy over how his ministry handled a Bitcoin donation from a man convicted of drug trafficking.

The value of the donation in question reaches approximately 45 million dollars (one billion Czech crowns).

At the center of the scandal is Tomáš Jiřikovský, known as the founder of Sheep Marketplace, the Czech Republic’s largest dark web illegal marketplace to date, who was released in 2021. Jiřikovský was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2017 for embezzlement and drug dealing. More than eleven thousand Bitcoin transactions were made through Sheep Marketplace in 2013 alone, with Jiřikovský taking a commission on each transaction.

Following Jiřikovský’s release, the court ruled to return electronic devices previously seized by police at the beginning of the year. These devices included a Bitcoin wallet and access codes. At the time of Jiřikovský’s arrest, the cryptocurrency was worth around 20 million kronor (around $800,000), and with the rise in Bitcoin prices, it has now exceeded three billion kronor (around $130 million). The ministry has taken back around one billion kronor from this wallet.

However, the National Center for Combating Organized Crime (NCOZ) has opened an investigation to see if the transfer was money laundering. While detectives arrived at the Justice Ministry building to collect documents, Blažek publicly stated that the transaction was “very legal” and “could not be any more legal.”

Following growing backlash in public and political circles, Blažek announced his resignation from his position.

*This is not investment advice.

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