How To Steal And Lose More Than $3 Billion In Bitcoin | CNBC Documentary
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2024
- Twenty two year-old hacker Jimmy Zhong said he never meant to become a criminal billionaire. But that’s what happened in 2012 after he found a way to steal bitcoin from the Silk Road - a dark web exchange then known for some of the most unsavory trade on the internet - drugs, guns and porn. Over the next decade, the coins Zhong stole rocketed in value, ultimately reaching an eye-watering $3.36 billion.
Photos show Zhong on yachts, in front of airplanes, and at big time football games over the decade he confounded law enforcement officers trying to solve the theft. He even bought a weekend lake house to use as a party pad, and decorated it with a giant Trump flag and a stripper pole. But then, Zhong made a phone call that ruined his life.
In this documentary, CNBC’s Eamon Javers speaks exclusively with the IRS-CI, the agency that investigated this billion dollar crime as well as the people who knew Zhong during the decade he evaded law enforcement. Javers’ reporting also uncovers a long, digital trail that leads back to the earliest days of bitcoin and reveals a dark truth about the world of hackers and coders responsible for the creation of bitcoin.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:18 - Panic Attack
10:28 - The Raid
20:09 - Original Gangster
Correspondent: Eamon Javers
Investigative Producer: Paige Tortorelli
Senior Investigative Producer: Scott Zamost
Senior Field Producer: Bria Cousins
Senior Executive Producer: Ray Parisi
Editor: Candice Goldman
Graphic Artist: Michael Schwartz
Photojournalists: Oscar Molina, Marco Mastrorilli, Alex Herrera, Gerard Miller, Leroy Jackson, David Grogan, Tara McCurrie, and Alex Bedoya
Audio: Juan Merlo, Everette Wong, Peter Redding, and Francesco LoCascio
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How To Steal And Lose More Than $3 Billion In Bitcoin | CNBC Documentary
I just feel there's something unfair about everything that happened to him. Took money from criminals, the government took the money from him and send him to jail. Feels like the government is the villain in this story.
Whatever, Jimmy lived a crazy life and he just has to spend a year in prison.
It's true, the government is ran by Satan! You need Jesus to bring justice! Unfortunately, Jimmy wasn't worshipping Jesus, so he wasn't saved from Satan! But also, if Jimmy were worshipping Jesus, he'd have to pay tithes! Rich people typically don't worship Jesus, so they're just pretending to be good people while sabotaging the world! Jimmy was a lonely loser because he was selfish, and was vulnerable to the world.
He is just another Chinese criminal 😂. Apparently you people have never lived around this culture or you wouldn't be sorry for him at all!
I agree, the villains were completely the IRS and FBI
Government IS always the villain. In EVERY story.
This story of Jimmy reminds me of the saying, "Don't steal, the government hates competition!"
🎯
Do not die with a Will in Austin TX use Right of Survivorship. Some Thieves wear Suits !
Pray for Judge Guy Herman. DEMOCRAT.
Probate Court Scam, Theft Alert . A Mom and daughter both own, each one half of 15 tree covered acres with two houses, each have No Debts. Austin, Texas built a Formula 1 Race track and Music Concert and Events Center across the hiway and as visitors exit the Main Entrance across the street that tree covered, undivided, 15 acres has 2 homes on it. The Mom died leaving a Signed notarized and double witnessed Will stating that the Mom's house and property is Not to be SOLD. The Mom, always a good Judge of character, met the new neighbor Developer and said that man is no good and no good will come from him. The "Honorable" "Ethical" Probate Court Judge Guy Herman replaced the Named Trusted Loyal Executor who would Not SELL , with the Austin, Texas, Travis County taxpayer funded Velocity Project Developer's "Ethical" Attorney as Administrator who that day Contracted to SELL the Debt Free Estate likely valued at $500~800k to maybe a high of $3,000,000, due to the location (2023 Austin area property tax is $150,000 per acre $150k x 7 1/2 acres= 1,125k), to the Taxpayer funded Velocity Project Developer for $60k claiming SELLING the DEBT FREE House and 7 1/2 acre Estate (half of the family's Undivided 15 acres) is BEST for the Family. The Will gives the Executor and now by law the Administrator the power to SELL or Not SELL and to SET the price if needed with only a low price Limit and NO UPPER Limit. By removing the Named in the Will Loyal Trusted Executor the HONORABLE Guy Herman made the Estate Defenseless , and has Stolen (at a cheap price) this Mom's house. To maintain Control, Judge Guy Herman refused to permit a Trial by Jury. Because the Named Trusted Executor complained soo much another "Ethical" Judge, Daniel Prashner , stepped in and said he reviewed the Probate Court case and said he would Court Order a SELL at $60k. Probate Court is a Brotherhood of Snakes . The Velocity Project Developer already has 100+ bull dozed flat acres to the side and 70+Millions of dollars and teams of "Ethical" lawyers but he doesn't have that Mom and daughter's place at the Main Entrance. Don't Die with a Will , do "Right of Survivorship" and avoid Probate Court's Legal "Ethical" Theft for the Good of the Debt Free Family Scams . DEBT FREE means No Need to SELL. How much Safer would you feel sleeping knowing that this Developer bought half of your Family's homestead for $60k by Court Order.?
As visitors exit the Main Entrance of the Formula One Racetrack, Concert Events Center and Amusement Park the tree covered property directly across the street is the tree covered, undivided 15 acres where the Mom and Daughter's 2 Houses are. The 100+ acres of bull dozed land beside the Mom and daughter's Homestead is owned by the Travis County taxpayer funded Developer of the Velocity Project, operating as 10+ LLC companies who want to put in Retail and housing.
Do not die with a Will , Use a Right of Survivorship or Pass on Death filed at the Courthouse prior to death. So the Ethical Judge and State Bar of Texas Ethical Attorneys can't Steal your Property.
Father Jehovah, they by the offices they hold represent Thy Hand here upon this Earth and as such they should be held to a higher level of accountability than that of the people they are here to serve. Father Jehovah, I ask that You hold back Thy Mercy, stretch forth Thy Hand, spare not Thy Rod and correct those that are in positions of authority with sufficient magnitude and persistence that they despite their Godless tyrannical and often evil spirited ways might come to know that there is a God, that life on Earth is short and to at all times seek to do that which is right.
Precisely.
Sounds like something a commie-red; cap, wearer would say!
😮
I’m not even mad at him. I’m more disturbed that the government was able to keep it all and probably did nothing for poverty.
Government is made to keep people poor
They used a portion of it to install spikes where the homeless try to sleep.
I heard it goes into a pot and the money is used for different things. It was loosely tracked where the money is going, probably why politicians got rich within a few years.
@@alk3mystIn Georgia?
I feel bad that all he wanted was real friends. But who calls the cops to report theft of stolen money?!
18:41 Proof that Trump supporters lack basic common sense.
Jimmy seems like the type of guy whod come back , start a multibillion dollar company and still ball out
i just wish him to find good friends
U.S. Govt in 2012: Bitcoin is NOT a valid currency!
U.S. Govt in 2022: stealing Bitcoin is a federal offense!
That’s a great question
Well put 😊
Stealing from a CRIMINAL dark web website too.
I was thinking "that's a lot of government resources wasted on finding out who stole from criminals"
@@10Cashton- how so, with all they got back?
I actually feel sorry for Jimmy. He stole from criminals and didn't hurt anyone. Whereas SBF stole from average retailers and he pretended like he's doing everyone a favor.
If that's what he did, he will prolly be recruited by the fbi. But he isn't very smart.
facts
Those criminals he stole from are people too. Maybe he should apologize to them in person or be made to do so.
who is SBF?
sad such a smart guy turned into a fat greedy idiot he could of had it alllll
Moral of the story if you’re doing something that you’re not supposed to be doing, do not talk to the feds at no circumstances he should never let the feds in his house, under no circumstances
True.
"Using a dog specifically trained to sniff for computer hardware" WHAAAATTTT?!
That took me out 😂
The new K9 unit has been trained to react to the scent of UTXOs valued at over $50,000. LOL
yes, PCB, resistors and whatnot have a very strong scent. Do you know the burnt electronics component smell ?
probably for bombs
It's amazing how limited of a knowledge society has about dog training and the use of them in government's hands
This man made the government 3 billion and all he ever wanted was someone to love him. This man doesn't deserve jail time..
Well said.
Money is what the govt is really after
That money was spread amongst the pockets of powerful people in the government. I wouldn't be surprised if less than a billion found its way into coffers that actually benefit the people of America!
He got to live the high life for like a decade. Plus I think more people like him more now than before.
You don't get love just because you want it. Like respect, you don't buy it from people. I partly blame the parents for him turning out like a highly dysfunctional human being. Imagine having tons of money and yet he's miserable and still don't know how to find the right kind of love. Just shows that money doesn't make your problems go away if you're not mentally and emotionally stable.
As a non American, I finally see why everyone hates the IRS.
As an American, it's so cringe how no one ever bothers to learn to pronounce such a common name like Zhong.
American logic: Hate the IRS but you expect world class amenities, services and infrastructure. Does that seem contradictory to you?
Yeah, the only people who "hate the irs" are people with something to hide.
@@holeefuk5690I would be more then happy to pay the IRS if the service the government provided was world class. Sadly it’s not.
@@holeefuk5690wait America has world class amenities? Looks to me like public infrastructure is outdated and crumbling lol
Lesson of the century: the cops are never your friends.
cop: we have no evidence of crime.
IRS: call the cops. we have a crime.
same cop: we have evidence of a crime.
This story makes me sad. The dude was bullied as a kid, but still was kind to people and only wanted to be loved. He stole from drug dealers and spent it on friends and making people happy. I know tons of people that would become super villains if they got the kind of money jimmy got.
Same thing too. And it’s very sad none of his family and friends appeared in court to give him support. Only a few wrote letters of support.
You can tell from the faces of some of the investigators, including the local PD one, that they have a slight pinch of empathy for the man.
I mean, he isn’t FTX’s Sam Bankman Fried or Bernie Madoff. He just stole from a place which was used by criminals and unsavoury people for their illegal activities.
He didn’t like cheat his friends and family.
this reminds Joker movie and how that character was formed from normal guy trying to do things right.
Pathetic is the word I'd use...
Jimmy got what he deserved. He should of stuck to his confucius lessons he surely learned being Chinese. He embraced American capitalism and American culture. This is the result.
It's all selfish, shallow and superficial. You can't buy real friendship.
This is why majority of Triads left Hong Kong the moment it was given back to China. Criminals love the western system as its so easy for them to operate.
Jimmy clearly hung out with triads. That's why he knew about that bitcoin exchange used by criminals. US law enforcement always playing catch up. The entire system does a terrible job with white collar crimes. It's designed like this for corporations to do whatever they want. Many Chinese criminals look at the US as a exit to a legitimate life after leaving China. They turn into your businessmen. It's not just China, it's the entire world of intelligent organized criminals. US is a perfect destination for them. Extreme capitalism works for them.
This is why the US is losing against China. It can't even ensure their businesses operate with integrity or their justice system ensures safety of their citizens. China will out innovate the US. The US needs to revamp their system to improve the majority of lives for their citizens. It doesn't need to become exactly like China. Other countries still keep their democracy but they have policies which the people overwhelmingly support. For example, the US does not even have a national gun registration which majority of citizens support. There's so many things the US is behind when compared to other nations of similar caliber. For example, many in Europe. The income inequality in the US is extremely high! These are just examples proving policies in the US need changing to benefit the majority.
This guy's only crime was being too kind and trusting
And voting for traitor Trump.
@@camplethargic8awww how cute, you don't know how to spell biden
@@camplethargic8 I'm Indian and I would vote for Trump rather than Biden
Gave a lot back to the community
He’s a crook just like Trump. Lolololololololol.
He is not a criminal. He is a legend, live a dream of every youngster and hustler.
Now that ridiculous amount of stolen money sits with IRS, please give us a report on how that stolen money is being used!
Funding against crimes: war, drug, violence, and ...
with money stolen from criminals xD uno reverse
So let me get this straight. Jimmy was arrested and jailed for stealing from criminals. And on top of that his story is now public so all those criminals who may want revenge know exactly who to look for and exactly where to find him. Good job government, such heroes yall are.
When the government "confiscates" money and vehicles from drug addicts who are caught with even just a small amount of illegal drugs without proof that the money and vehicles being "confiscated" were acquired from profit of criminal activity and even when rogue agents of the government steal money from innocent people traveling in their vehicles with their hard-earned cash for legitimate reason, they don't think it's wrong because they legitimized it by calling it CIVIL FORFEITURE. May be LICENSED TO STEAL is a more suitable description for what they do to those unfortunate people.
Isn't it ironic that someone who has been convicted of felonies of wire fraud for manipulating (spoofing) trading in the precious metals and U.S. Treasury markets, essentially a thief who stole money from legitimate investors, got invited into the White House to discus the financial future of the USA?
Isn't it ironic that someone who has been convicted of felonies of wire fraud for manipulating (spoofing) trading in the precious metals and U.S. Treasury markets, essentially a thief who stole money from legitimate investors, got invited into the White House to discuss the financial future of the USA?
@@simon6071 Feeling out of the loop, who are you referring to?
Probably Jamie Dimon but a bunch of bankers and traders at major financial institutions are charged every year for wire fraud and price manipulation and not a single one of them has ever faced jail time@@Vincent_C
This guy is a legend. He did not steal 50000 bitcoin, he got compensated for finding a flaw in the software.
That narrative is being claimed by Jimmy - it's unlikely to be true.
But who paid for what was stolen?
@@sdevil7th people buying illegal stuff. It’s like if a drug dealer dropped 100 dollars but told you to keep it as a reward for reminding he dropped a 100 dollars.
@@Shawnjohson1608 well said, I sided with Jimmy too
It is called a bounty in software engineering world and is practiced by Apple and Google for years. Plus whitehat hacking and ethical hacking. The only thing is and it's important, proceeds from crimes are still theft, kind of like buying stolen goods on the street knowingly and then using it, etc. Honestly I feel for the man as a human. I guess he needed to get out from trying to impress people and perhaps do some philantrophy or make a deal with IRS and pay taxes to pave those awesome roads for bikes and housing projects, not a bad thing at all and you get more REAL love.
The cop says it never works when you pull out a million cash in a briefcase 😂 like he would know😂
can't buy woman's heart with 1m, when u fat and ugly :(
He mean tryna impress girl in a any way and that’s true whenever a girl see like you’re tryna win her over she’ll loose interest
@@BA-cz4is Money is the greatest aphrodisiac
You can tell he is a good guy because he loved his dog. Then, there is the IRS trying to justify their actions.
"I would say I came to REALLY enjoy having Jimmy as a friend in my life..." Translation: I loved using this dude for his money.
Yes.
It's really a shame that people like that girl exist. The amount of cynicism and hipocresy in the way she tells the story makes me feel sick.
I thought of writing the same comment. 😂
She has the intelligence and personality of a grain moth, and "that" inflection in her voice, where it goes UUUUUP at the end of each sentence. Straight user trash.
As long as simps exist, then girls like her will take advantage of them.
All I learnt from this well produced piece is even when innocent don't trust law enforcement or let them into your house without a warrant.
You are a good student.
Get a good criminal lawyer. Preferably a very good former district attorney. They know all the dirty tricks law enforcement use.
American law enforcement are litterally legally allowed to watch you get stabbed to death and do nothing. Police by law are not there to help you. They are in no way required to help anyone. First think to learn about cops. Don't ever trust a cop
Police is not your friend..
I learnt that don’t call cops on a stolen $400k when you’ve $3.3 billion of stolen money.
The Real OG here is the IRS😂
He such a chill guy. They should gave him a medal for stealing from syndicates 😂😂
What a joke, he went to the police for help and ended up going to jail, while the original case that he reported hasn’t been resolved 🤦♀️🤦♀️
They were worried about his case once they started theirs.
is why you dont go to the police with anything
The feds probably the ones that broke in his home 😂😂
He wasn't about that life lol. Butcoin has given lottery tickets to so many guppies lol.
nah. probably only top 5. theres exxon and monsanto and musk. all corporations are thieves. eattherich
Ironic for the IRS guy to say "there's no honor among thieves"
Fax
Exactly!
Coming from the mafia of thieves
They aren't thieves. They're blood sucking vampires
i was rolling my eyes when he said that
I remember when I just got into crypto back in 2019 but later in 2020 I ended up selling it because I was dumb and I didn't understand it. I studied and learned and now I know how it works. Got back into crypto early in 2023 with 10k and I’m up with 128k in a short period of time .This comment serves as motivation for all those who have invested and continue to invest in cryptocurrencies with so many losses, do not give up, cryptocurrencies can change your life. Do your best to connect with the right people and you will surely see changes.
As a beginner what do I need to do? How can I invest, on which platform? If you know any please share.
As a beginner investor, it’s essential for you to have a mentor to keep you accountable. Myself, I’m guided by Alex Gomez. A widely known crypto consultant
I've come across this name before, is he really reliable?
I started working with Alex back in June, and my financial goals have never been clearer. It’s like having a strategic partner for my money with a solid track record.
I know him, he is my family's personal broker and also a personal broker in many families I'm United States, he's a licensed broker and a FINRA AGENT😊
So the person stole from Jimmy is still out there..lol
Damn, everyone benefited from Jimmy, including law enforcement and the government.
The term is "exploited".
I kinda feel bad for him honestly.
@@xtamaredthat fits perfectly with what they all did to Jimmy 😢
@@xtamaredthat has the same meaning in this context. They benefited at his expense
It’s odd the State decided to investigate money stolen from drug dealers on the dark web? Makes you wonder…
"There is no honor among thieves." IRS and government ending up as largest ones in this story
the IRS should be on this show being exposed to the largest heist and unlawful bully! If one would search "Victory Tax" they'd find that taxes were only for federal employees ONLY, citizens could contribute during war time to help financially but VOLUNTARILY ONLY! IRS are not agents their only administrators working for a foreign company.
That’s right, IRS stills from people, taxes is a big big really big lie
WHY isn't this a movie?
@@oldrrocr there was, it was a movie based on metaphysical events that happened with America take over by a defacto monarchy corporation called UNITED STATES INC ACT OF 1871, movie was called Wizard of Oz
indeed when I heard it I thought "there's no honor among gov servants"
imagine stealing billions with a B, and then snitching/self reporting over 400k 😂😂🤦🏽♂
Right
that part
in 2009, it was not even millions. i believe he stole 600k at the time. that 600k turned into billions
likeeee
*Successful people don't become that way overnight. What most people see as wealth, a great career, purpose is the result of hard work. 🤑🤑*
Well I must say people are scared because there are so many unprofessional brokers out there.
It's a miracle and I would testify, 110k bucks
every 2weeks! I now have a big mansion and can now afford anything and also support God's work and the church
All thanks to Faith Reece
Wow.... She has really made good name for herself, she's also my account manager
Her concept is key in beating all odds to excel in this form of online commodity trading.
Maturity is when you realize Jimmy was a good guy.
He's a criminal for not paying tax, not stealing, make no mistake!
How could he be a criminal for not paying tax, if Bitcoin was yet to be a legal asset?@@sa3kes111
@@sa3kes111 Politicians and people in Wall Street haven't pay they fare share for decades and they're still out doing their agenda and making millions.
NEVER let anyone into your home
I know. The federal government “opened” an application process to return the funds after they seized them, and then nobody applied to get back their funds, so they kept the money. The feds stole from a dude who stole from criminals and who used the money to benefit him, his friends, and his local economy. The feds are the crooks here.
Jimmy called the police for help and not only did they never solve the crime, but they thoroughly destroyed his life taking the only things he had that gave him meaning (his dog and money). Never thought I'd feel bad for a thief, but the police are definitely the villains of this story
Wonder if the local pd were envious seeing Jimmy with all the cute girls downtown, while they couldn't get any. Makes sense why they went after Jimmy but not the people who stole from Jimmy. Small towns have very strong ties so I won't be surprised if the local pd knew who stole from Jimmy.
Jimmy never destroyed anyones life. He stole from criminals and now the govt completely ruined him
Felt bad that his case just going go unsolved forever it will get lost in unsolved cases files
Today's Police, I call them Pig, is an OCCUPYING FORCE. Haven't you noticed no one is happy when the pigs show up.
Twice I called the pigs for stolen property. One of which I SOLVED MYSELF!!! I found my property and who had taken them. Called the pigs to help me with the recovery, cos they always say, 'don't take the law into your own hands call and we'll help you. Long story short ,not only did they not arrest Dude, not only did they not recover my stuff, they managed to give away who had called the cops on the dude who claimed he had been to Pelican ZBdy this of that, and he took my picture for future reference I guess to do something to me later on. Standing there with the pig. I asked the Sheriff pig, ' aren't you gonna ask him why he took the picture. He said with a cold face ( my head was about to explode ,when I heard): 'Well that's the risk you take when you call us.
Bingo! They always have been
Jimmy was smart and yet naive. He needed attention from his friends and that’s why he still lived in college town even with all that assets. Sad story
One of "The Best Investigative Report & Quality Government Investigators". We Need More Like You.
He arguably did the world a favor by hacking a bunch of hardcore criminals. If he would've hacked innocent people like the COUNTLESS crypto criminals in the world, that'd be a different story. But Jimmy hacked one of the worst organization that mankind has to offer. Props to his work honestly, he shouldn't get jail time.
Just another story about the police not doing their jobs and being incompetent.
#defundthepolice
Damn, you should be his defense, I probably would a convict. 😂😂😂
@@Tential1 I concur
Jimmy robbed criminals and “donated” $3 Billion to the government only to be locked up. Sometimes life isn’t fair.
Two wrongs don't make a right....
The IRS should be sued and put on trial for robbing this kid!
Lol. They're robbing from everyone.
I think the IRS, the NSA, the CIA, Homeland Security, FBI, or any other entity that deals with cybercrimes, or any crime in general should investigate avelution7133, hopefully i put enough words that this will match regular expressions and someone in the future will do just that. 😀
was it actually the irs?
Fr, even jimmy's lawyer might be part of them
@@satisfactors tax law enforcements in the us. basically the ones that tax you and tell you to pay your tax
Libra here 👋 Thank you for being so straightforward and true, and not just making it a "nice" reading that people want to hear. Your readings are fantastic!
This CNBC reporter is obnoxious and condescending
The real reason he got in trouble is because the IRS wanted to steal the money first.
💯
Poor guy is going to get killed in jail. He actually did a great thing by stealing the money from drug lords and they put him in jail w/ the drug lords henchmen...
The IRS should go after SniperWolf, she steals content all the time and makes money from it 💰
I definitely don't feel good about paying taxes and don't understand them very well unfortunately but they do pay for social services where I live and see the real impact in elderly friends.
@@notaspectator I always tell people to pay their taxes, else they'll be driving on broken roads 😂
Lesson learned. Don't let the cops into your house..
احساس بی ارزشی داشت اون ادم که همچین اتفاقی برایش اوفتاد
Well yes even if you are innocent of any crimes you should always force the cops to get a search warrant and then have a lawyer present when speaking to them as well as enforcing the limited nature of the search warrants.
Yes indeed.
They are not your friends
Lesson learned, don’t steal in the first place. He who owes nothing, fears nothing.
The balls of calling in the police with incriminating evidence in your house. Reminds me of Pryce's baseball cards in Better Call Saul.
"Jimmy wanted to be love, Jimmy wanted friends, Jimmy was a good guy" sounds like "the Jimmy" from Seinfeld
Moral of the story, NEVER EVER TRUST A GOVERNMENT AGENTS.
Or steal bitcoins.
@@darkgalaxy5548 He didnt steal, he was paid, the goverment is the one that stole from him.
@@darkgalaxy5548Yes, you're right, the moral of the story is to steal bitcoins.
or HR
Amen!
Was bullied as a child, bulllied and punished as an adult...pain never ends. That was a reward not a theft... More power Jimmy!
Not an excuse
Selective victim mentality much? Stolen money, is stolen money.
@@user-li7wx2mh1gother way round, they steal our money every day
@@jay4you853other way round also, they steal our money every day
You are just mad they caught your MAGA boy. What happened to law and order?
It was very stupid and greedy of him to call the cops for 400k which is about 0.01% of his net worth
So Jimmy exploited a flaw in Silk Road. The owner of the Bitcoin rewarded him for finding the flaw. Them the government stole from him. The IRS agent said: there is no honor among thieves. He could have completed: and the government is the biggest thieve of all.
3 billion dollars and he gave 100% of it to the government and still served prison time. What a terrible attorney that he hired
Not his attorney. Those are federal charges. Hardest to beat. At least he's in Camp Fed.
@@Vixentales Doesn't matter. The government puts money over anything and everything. They will let you go scott free for that amount of money.
One year in prison for stealing $3 billion? That attorney did a hell of a job.
@@NazoSemerjian You really dont know much about these types of cases. Theres a ton of cases involving large sums of money where they get off on probation or scott free. He stole money that was earned illegally, it's not the same.
@@NazoSemerjian its wasnt against the law to steal crypto from criminals. And also there could have been many ways to swing this story considering his background. His attorney was trash. Now he is a 29/30 year old with federal charges on his record and no money
He was actually a decent guy, sure he stole from crooks but at least he shared his wealth with friends, mad respect for him
Stealing from crooks isn't stealing.
Also, all the money that wasn't used activelly by him in any criminal activity, so money that landed on his lap and wasn't used on illegal drugs, weapons, etc. shouldn't be actually STOLEN by the government. If the government wanted the taxes on a crypto, that oscillates value so much and wasn't in the real world, I would call bs. Just tax him with the reasonable penalties over the coins he sold/cashed in and put him on a program to use his skills to actually get bad people.
But no...let's just destroy his life over cryptocurrency he took from actual criminals.
That just says to me Government can't be trusted to do anything really good for the people, just to maintain itself with power over people.
None of them was his friends.....
They wasn't his friends.... He just wanted them to be
He DID buy drugs with the money. I wonder about the legality of the assault rifle.
@@chaoswarriorbr- When Sammy the bull comes after you then keep telling that to yourself lol 🤣
She says "Jimmy" so many times......I instantly thought of that "Seinfeld" episode.....about "Jimmy" talking about himself in the 3rd person.......😂
I don't understand why they punish the thief who stole money from criminals and drug abusers?
The Us government was like hey that’s my job to steal money. Justice for Jimmy
Feds: Able to track down guy who stole 3B$
Also feds: Dumbfounded at the guy who stole 400k on camera.
That's because they weren't going to get anything from finding the guy that stole the $400k. Just shows how crooked the system is.
Bunch of pirates with guns filling their pockets. Disgusting.
@@wireflier1886 absolutely correct
The cops are the ones that broke into his house they needed a way to investigate him they think Americans are dumb.
Ain't that the truth. The U.S. government and those agencies are just about as corrupt at the people using the Silk Road. Only difference is they stand on their high-horse law enforcement badge and claim immunity. Then sell someone's bitcoin for a profit.@@wireflier1886
So who’s the real criminal here? Lol
this is unacceptable, honest people that get scammed almost never get their money back and the police is working on behalf of criminals.
To me he was not a bad guy. He was a guy with a big heart, who trusted everybody around him. I hope he will come out on top of this. Hang in there buddy!
Only a complete fool trust "everybody" around him. The guy was clearly an attention seeking fool who didn't realize the simple fact that friends can't be bought. The guy didn't care about the turmoil of humanity as otherwise he would've made big donation to charities.
@@Sam-K Just random large donations with his identity plastered in the news every time he made one. That would've kept his indentidity concelaed for sure!
@@evanoneill619 Don't know about you but anonymous donations are a thing here.
You don't come back after losing that much money. Bro will forever think about what he lost till he dies.
@@scholaroftheworldalternatehist depends on what someone's definition is of "coming back." Ppl like him are hired all the time after they've found loopholes or some way to hack extremely complex and encrypted systems. He could make a very comfortable living from countless billion $ corporations or the feds for that matter. Because for every person who has multiple degrees and got into this business to make a legitimate living, there will always be those who have the same educational backround or are simply smarter with no formal education whatsoever and use their knowledge for ulterior motives.
He sounds way nicer than most billionaires I've heard of. His poor dog has no way of knowing what happened to him, that's the heart breaking part of this whole thing.
The level of greed to worry about $1million being stolen from your $3billion of stolen money cannot be overlooked.
@@jamie6387 I don't think the amount of money was stolen was the reason he called the cops, but the fact that he had no idea who did it and could come back for more.
@@jamie6387that's not it at all. If they the thief gets away with stealing it, you know they are coming back for more.
The guy had surveillance cameras everywhere, so these guys knew WTF they were doing. 🤷🏻♂️
Well to be honest, this is the age old practice of buying friendship and acceptance. Zhong may have been a nice guy, but he was overweight and not particularly attractive so he compensated by flaunting money.
@@Tommorow1994 With his amount of money, he can easily buy another house (or a dozen) with cash. His arrogance of thinking he was in the clear was the reason why he got busted.
Ironically, the people he stole from were smarter than him, by not claiming stolen assets.
Contractors for Federal Agents and the Military have the potential to be the most nefarious beings of all.
Bravo, they put in jail the guy who stole money from guys who trade guns,drugs, etc. These guys are genius
What a critical mistake by Jimmy. For $400K he went to jail and lost *$3.3Billion* .
It's weird, but I feel bad for Jimmy.
He did steal that money from criminals on the dark web FREE JIMMY
I agree with you!
Yeah... that is weird.
same
Those criminals are backed by the government, So they hunt down Jimmy. @@Kevin-uo4kt 🤣
Jimmy should have got a medal and not jail time. He co-operated and made US government very rich. Not to mention he could be put to good use with law enforcement solving bitcoin crime and identifying flaws in the system.
Landed in jail as he deserves
@@kcc853 no he doesnt
Jimmy takes money from criminals and gives to the community… police take from criminals and use it to find out how to make more criminals out of the community .
He has 3b and calls the cops to report a theft of a fraction of that… who does that?!?
Umm… somebody who wants to report theft in their community…
Meanwhile…. The neighborhood is still having break ins and thefts, cops decided not to peruse that case now that they all got a pat on the back and got to screw over another kid they were jealous of. B/c u know… NOBODY in the community can be cooler than the cops think they are.
exactly what i was thinking too
Thanks for the update.
Yes, the crypto market is really taking off and Bitcoin is in good shape to start trading now🔉✅
Te/e gram
@Rolandostrategy THAT IS HIS USER NAME
please make sure you write the USER NAME complete and He's verified
Presale excitement building up! Xeventy's project is making waves for all the right reasons.
Now the IRS came to steal that money 🤣 "legally" . No different from what Jimmy did to the exchange.
Yuppers!
Not exchange, "criminal network".
At least he pays free money to the people around him
He stole it, when it was worth almost nothing , and he might stole it just for fun
I don’t think this guy should be in prison. This is an embarrassment. Maybe give him some sort of punishment but not prison time.
Just another story about the police not doing their jobs and being incompetent.
#defundthepolice
Law is not concerned about justice
Maybe its to sort of protecting him from dark web people
they shouldn't have taken the bitcoin either. cos although initially stolen, Ross told him to keep it for helping him discover a flaw. So it was payment for pentesting.
@@loualex6925 lol how does, putting his name out there protect him?
He was exposing the flaw in silkroad payment system and the owner give him that bitcoin plus bonus, so he's not stealing. He should be released.
Is there a full documentary and what’s it called?
Biggest crime he committed was to trust the government 😢
They’re also masked. The government was desperate to put an innocent behind bars and they succeeded. They also admitted that they track EVERYTHING, especially in regard to crypto.
Yep, I don’t see how the government felt justified in pursuing this case. The owners of Silk Road would never have filed a complaint about the theft, and so it was not a concern of law enforcement.
They just wanted to steal the Bitcoin for themselves.
that’s the government for you. they have no remorse for any of us.
Only in America
100% biggest theivs around
Pretty much . They wouldn’t have done a thing if bitcoin didn’t rise in value
So true the government they steal our hard working money everyday
The thing is... they ACT like he stole 3 billion dollars. But back in 2012 when he did it, BTC was only about $5-10. So what he got was around $250,000 to $500,000 worth, which is a much more reasonable amount for the Silk Road creator to accept as a reward for exposing the security flaw. Still a lot, but not $3B.
If he was also mining back in the days of 2009-2010, the vast majority of his BTC holdings could have come from that the 300,000 he says could be accurate.
lmao the cops talking to Jimmy about his computers. "Wow that's awesome!...Amazing!" they don't know what tf they're looking at lol
crazy thing is the police never bother to get the person who stole from Jimmy
Not enough of a reward 😅
Because it was done by the same folks who wanted it all
You should know by now the government only helps the bad people. You (Jimmy) steal from criminals, the government will make you pay. Criminal steals from the good guys, the government doesn't care. For the government to even allow,the criminals to claim their bitcoins back after is pretty crazy.
Lmao so true. They don't care when your home gets broken into, only if there is something in it for them.
they even said it became a bigger interest once the value went to the billions
This is not even a crime, developers get paid for bug bounties every single day in this world and that's what happened here. Ross Ulbrict paid him to identify the error, SilkRoad took the loss, none of the drug dealers or users lost money until the government shut it down and seized them. Not to mention, he was smart enough to hodl them until they went up in value. The abuse and manipulation by these cops and the justice department is sickening.
You are so right. In the end he didnt steal anything. I don't get how this silk road thing would of even had a case to investigate this. Its so confusing.
US government is like China, they use "law" to steal from citizens
100% spot on
😢
Never talk to pigs. Jimmy was smart, but not street smart.
Everyone needs a friend like Jimmy
Just cuz he gives away freebie?? Lmaao do smth of ur own
Two lessons learned for Jimmy Zhong:
1) The Frog got spotted by its Big Mouth.
2) Trust the Government to be your friend, well just think again of a good reason, why?
“There’s no honor among thieves” really resonates when a representative of the biggest thieving organization says it.
They really think they're the good guys 😂
@@PikaQPika 😂
🤣🤣
They say no honor among thieves, so what happened to people who steal from him?
nah. probably only top 5. theres exxon and monsanto and musk. all corporations are thieves. eattherich
He didn't steal. He found a loophole in the website and was compensated for helping to fix it.
I'm leaning on Jimmy's side here
Yep, I'm really struggling to see anything illegal here, in fact I don't see any and I'm sure the only stealing done was the government stealing Jimmy's money.
Uhh that's all Jimmy's possibly made up story
@@robf1801 Autistic people don't make up stories. They don't have that ability. As you can clearly see in the video that is specific to neurotypical humans
@@Jasonsadventures I have a neice with asbergers and she makes up stories a lot. Autistic people are not some amorphous blob who all never lie. It's called a specrum for a reason.
Well hopefully he hid some coins for when he gets out the system really is corrupt and people are blind to it
This guy would have a bad time in the prison since he stole from Silk Road, a notorious site for crimes. Can’t imaging what Jimmy would encounter behind the bars.
What do you mean. Please explain.
Interesting - the gain and reuse of money for good or evil reveals the character of the person in charge.
Hope a movie is made about this case. It will be a Robin Hood in modern times.
FTX is the new Robin Hood Act, and this proves there's a glitch in the matrix
There's a podcast about an Australian guy who discovered an infinite money glitch on an ATM, his story is a lot like this. There's videos about him on YT as well.
Robin Hood gave to the poor so purely selfless. This pig gave only to hot girls cuz he wanted to nail ‘em.
Only if all proceeds go to jimmy. I’m happy to think jimmy could start a RUclips once he gets out, and can still do well.
@a1tonee lol! The FTX owner is just conniving the scammer pretending to be dumb and irresponsible to escape from his responsibility from defrauding people who trusted his company. SBF wanted the spotlight and fed his ego and fame. Jimmy is different. He wants to be needed and be loved. Hence, spending money to party with everyone and give away his stolen money. It's just that while money can't buy everyone. At least in the end, there are people who actually appreciate his kindness and an old dog's loyalty. While SBF's cronies threw him under the bus.
If Bitcoin value had never seen a meteoric rise, the government wouldn't have even given Jimmy a warning.
Jimmy is a hero who obtained the bitcoin the most cleanly. The government criminal thugs saw blood dollar signs, and preyed on Jimmy’s kindness. Give Jimmy the money back you thugs.
@@microchipmatt A hero for buying coke off
the darkweb?
@@ryan_drums he deprived other criminals and drug users. So it's a "murderer that murdered all other murderers" situation
Jimmy earned a few hundred dollars worth of bitcoin at the time of the event. This is all he should be criminally liable for. And the error was due to an unsolicited seller error that he promptly disclosed to the seller and the seller confirmed the money was so small he allowed Jimmy to keep it. In what universe is this a crime? The only criminal here is the IRS. I'm genuinely interested to see any legal argument in favor of the government.
@@DominikPlaylists kleptocrats
Mr Zhong, a friend is what he does when you are down at your lowest and they help you because they are thinking about you not because of what you have done for or given them.
Jimmy needed a friend so the gov was there to help and they gave help a cell mate. How generous.
A criminal stole from another criminal and then the biggest criminal of all came and stole it 😂
you guys are naive, the initial break in was done by a police officer who was investigating him prior. The officer knew stealing from criminals will have no consequences on him. good possible it was one of the officer shown on CNBC documentary
@@tomspeed3354 your missing the point that the gov was the biggest criminal in this story.
Both of you are missing the point. You should steal a small amount from someone who stole a huge amount
the gov is the top dog. And no one can go after them.
Well said!
Moral of the story: if you stole something from someone and then it gets stolen from you, don't file a complaint.😅
or call the 👮♀️
Exactly 🤣
jimmy got paid extra 5000 for his handwork for years and programming skill not because of abusing people or from any illegal work. the fact that they paid him extra to reveal the flaw makes him a programmer not a criminal, if a criminal come to your grocery shop or bakery and take bread do you have any concern where from he got the money. you have given him something in exchange for money. and the fact that nobody came in front claiming damages caused by jimmy totally free him from any responsibility. people lost many gems in history, whoever found has total authority over that asset that's justice. jimmy has nothing to do with slikroad and their business and clients. He is a nerd freelancer. Got paid for his work and skills.
He got paid for fixing a web page selling illegal drugs.. not great really. Probably worse than the theft itself.@@ali2naveed
Very true
I was amazed at how comfortable he was showing them everything, when he opened up his laptop….i was like oh he is so screwed. I def feel bad for him.
when the journalist asking the P.I, who does that, calling cop for a fraction of stolen loot from bigger pot, i immediately remembers pryce danny from better call saul.
This dude was bullied and taken advantage of, and all he seems to be needing was love and affection. Well, he's got a fan base. Jimmy, the legend!
Jimmy!!!
It may be crazy but I feel so sorry for him. You could tell just by looking at him he’s a lonely guy. I don’t understand how the police could find evidence for his illegal activities so swiftly but can’t find who stole his money!? He stole from criminals, then the government stole from him… what a sad story about a lonely guy trying to buy friends 😢
Every person in this story is a criminal in my book. Ross Ulbrich, the dealers on the Silk Road, Jimmy, AND the Government.
But, like everything else, the Government won, so we get their Narrative.
Yeah, there are a lot of us losers out here like Jimmy lol. Anyway, the police only cared about solving the Silk Road portion of the investigation. The Silk Road and Bitcoin was and is a gigantic embarrassment to the entirety of law enforcement and the establishment worldwide. The promotions and accolades for the crony cops here came with solving anything related to Silk Road, most importantly with the payday for government coffers. They never cared about helping Jimmy or anyone. They only cared about saving face and cashing in themselves. Joke to say anything else. They should be so proud of themselves 🙄 Please
Sadly, it was also almost certainly one of those 'friends' that either broke into his house or gave info to the person that did.
Don't forget who the real villain in Robin Hood is
Don't worry the government is putting the money to good use.. by funding wars around the world and going into the pockets of politicians
How ironic is it? Still from criminals is a criminal. So gov is a bigger criminal. Back in 2012 if BTC is unregulated I'm surprised he didn't hired a lawyer to defend him.
Whats really sad is the fact that some people will go to such great lengths to have friends
I still don’t know what his crime was. The man has a big heart and just wanted friends.
این مرد انقدر احساس بی ارزشی داشته که که خودشو گفت قلب پاک وجود ندارد عزیزم 😂😂😂
The money he is spending for his friends and his luxury life Is customers money, people's money
They robbed him and have to convince him that he was the one who did wrong.
@@northofeden1802 You think he was robbed by the goverment?
You watched this entire documentary and still don’t understand????
The ending actually made me tear up. Dude actually seemed like a good guy. Hopefully his dog is still around when he gets out :/.
Probs not
Since this is a Federal sentence, that means he will have to serve like around 80% of it, that is if he has a record of good behavior. So he may serve less than 1 year.
Its alright he will be out in a year and he will be hired by just about every IT company on earth etc.
he not good guy.
He really was sweet. I went to HS with him and he was used for his intelligence in school. He found himself in the wrong crowd before graduation and just never stoppped, all he wanted was friends and to be liked.
It seems like he didn’t call the police because he cared about the missing money itself, but rather he wanted to find out who betrayed him
The justice system in USA is incredible....
when the IRS spends more energy looking for the guy who stole from criminals than the actual criminals on the dark web lol
I mean he kinda did their job and I'm sure he will be working for them soon if not already.
@@QBL11104 SHUUUUUURE government is good people :) . Thats why everyday you have a story about war , mass shooting, crime. .......... and where are all these blue guys ......
They only care if there's a big money involved. That's pretty much always the case.
@@Monkers18Right, cause then they keep the money and divide it amongst themselves 😅 So noble of them
Because they are the criminals themselves selling drugs and sh*t on the dark web, it’s probably their money and were looking for the kid for years
So he stole from criminals? Wow how awful. I am so glad we dedicated resources to make sure we got the person who stole money from all drug dealers, weapons brokers, and many other evil doers. Who was this victory for? who were they looking out for? Oh and what an horrible person Zhong was, spending money in the local economy, being generous, god so glad they got him.
The exact rant we all wanted to voice out. Thanks for type it out. I really do think a better ending for him is to get away with it.
He didn't just steal from criminals - he also stole from customers. Potentially thousands of people with just a few hundred dollars to buy personal amounts of drugs
Government wanted that money and found a way to take it that's all I see in this.
@@dariusftw3378 he did not steal from customers. He stole silk road.
Did The silk road owner press charges against him? No... They let him keep The Bitcoins in exchange for webdevelping service.
He has not comited any crime... Stop being ignorante.
its IRS they dont care about you being a modern day robin hood, they just want the money
This is the perfect exaple of NO ONE IS A BETTER THIEF THAN THE GOVERNMENT!
He took the bait when the government said we’re here to help”😂