Hacker Behind Musk & Obama Bitcoin Rip-off Faces Staggering $5M Invoice as Stolen Crypto Soars

The British hacker answerable for one of the crucial notorious Twitter breaches in current historical past has been ordered to give up greater than £4 million ($5 million) in cryptocurrency, after the worth of his stolen digital property surged throughout his time behind bars.

Joseph James O’Connor, 26, was jailed in the USA in 2023 for orchestrating the July 2020 Twitter assault that compromised the accounts of worldwide figures, together with Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and different world leaders, tech executives, and main manufacturers.

Utilizing entry to Twitter’s inside administrative instruments, O’Connor and his accomplices hijacked greater than 130 accounts and pushed tweets urging followers to ship Bitcoin with guarantees of receiving double in return.

Prosecutors stated the group collected greater than $794,000 within the rip-off.

Authorities Seize Hundreds of thousands in Crypto From Convicted Twitter Hacker Regardless of US Conviction

This week, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it had secured a civil restoration order focusing on 42.378 BTC, 235.329 ETH, 143,273.57 BUSD, and 15.23 USDC linked to O’Connor, now valued at roughly £4.1 million.

The property, as soon as price solely a fraction of that quantity on the time of the hack, will probably be liquidated by a court-appointed trustee. O’Connor, who now lives in Spain, didn’t take part within the London listening to, however his mom stated he was prepared to forfeit all remaining curiosity within the funds.

O’Connor pleaded responsible in the USA to a protracted record of offenses, together with laptop intrusion conspiracies, wire fraud conspiracy, cash laundering conspiracy, extortion, threatening communications, and stalking a 16-year-old sufferer.

He was extradited from Spain and sentenced to 5 years in jail earlier than being deported earlier this yr.

The CPS had beforehand obtained a Property Freezing Order throughout extradition proceedings to stop the cryptocurrency from being moved.

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, stated the case reveals that authorities will pursue felony earnings even when convictions happen abroad.

“We had been in a position to make use of the total drive of the powers obtainable to us to make sure that even when somebody shouldn’t be convicted within the UK, we’re nonetheless in a position to make sure they don’t profit from their criminality,” he stated.

Bitcoin Surge Amplifies Worth of Belongings Stolen in 2020 Twitter Hack

Bitcoin’s rise has elevated the worth of O’Connor’s stolen holdings. At as we speak’s value close to $92,800, virtually ten occasions increased than in mid-2020, the remaining property ballooned to greater than £4.1 million, prosecutors stated.

The Twitter breach was one of many largest social media safety failures ever recorded. X, then Twitter, briefly locked down verified accounts because the rip-off unfold to greater than 350 million customers.

Investigators later stated two unwitting British associates opened crypto accounts utilized by O’Connor however weren’t concerned within the fraud.

The case arrives throughout a interval of heightened concern over crypto-related cybercrime, with governments worldwide reporting fast development in subtle digital extortion schemes.

Legislation enforcement businesses have additionally identified a pointy rise in crypto laundering. In response to World Ledger information cited within the filings, hackers stole greater than $3 billion throughout 119 incidents within the first eight months of 2025 alone, already surpassing 2024’s whole by 1.5 occasions.

In the meantime, separate enforcement actions proceed internationally. In November, the US Justice Division launched efforts to grab greater than $15 million in USDT tied to North Korea’s APT38 hacking unit, related to a collection of main 2023 trade breaches.

Europol additionally dismantled a cybercrime syndicate answerable for creating greater than 49 million faux on-line accounts, together with fraudulent profiles on crypto platforms, utilizing a large-scale SIM-farm infrastructure.

Regardless of rising world investigations, current information suggests the trade is experiencing short-term enhancements in safety.

October 2025 was recorded because the most secure month of the yr for crypto platforms, with solely $18.18 million misplaced to hacks, an 85% drop from September.

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