by Staff Writer
August 20, 2013 (TSR) – The federal government sent a strong signal to Bitcoin traders earlier this year when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized an account belonging to Mt. Gox, the most popular exchange for people to buy and sell the crypto-currency. It was unclear at the time just how much currency the government confiscated.
But a new filing in Baltimore federal court discloses the federal government seized $2,915,507.40 held in an account controlled by Dwolla, a third-party payment platform similar to PayPal, during a federal government seizure in May of the funds that belonged to Mutum Sigillum LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, reports Gigaom. It’s unclear what will become of the funds.
The feds decided to seize the account because Mt. Gox owner Mark Karpeles had allegedly concealed the fact that he opened the account in order to run a money transfer business. Karpeles has since stated that Mt. Gox is in compliance with federal and state financial regulations.
At the time, the seizure was significant because Dwolla-based payments to Mt. Gox were the easiest way that Americans could buy and sell large quantities of Bitcoin. While Mt. Gox has continued to process American transactions after the seizure, it has been slow to deliver withdrawals and has from time to time suspended them.
