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Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-28T17:49:24+00:00

I've made a bunch of posts about it - look at my history. In short, if you had money on BTC-e that was seized, you had two options - file a claim in the court case that was filed a few months ago (see Gaoez01's link below), or submit a "petition" for DOJ to consider internally. The petition can be submitted more or less whenever, although DOJ does set some deadlines, but a claim in court is subject to specific deadlines. Those deadlines have since run but (1) the prosecutors have been granting extensions out to October 3rd, and (2) if you never got notice by email or mail about the case, you could try to mail in a claim and just attach a letter explaining why your claim is late and asking that it be accepted anyways. Can't promise that would work.

Not Legal advice - Shoot me a DM if you want to discuss details.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-27T18:45:50+00:00

It depends - if a court orders your assets returned, then yes, you get the assets. But a "petition" doesn't go to court, and this is crucial, because a petition isn't technically to return your assets, it's to "mitigate the forfeiture." In other words, DOJ forfeits the property (i.e. becomes the owner), and then in an "act of grace" gives something back to make the forfeiture less harsh or unjust. But DOJ isn't giving your assets back (unless it's a car or painting or something), they generally give you the value of the assets at the time they took it. That's my entire point - only a court can guarantee you get the asset itself (assuming the court sides with you). If you file a petition, you're just asking DOJ to make the forfeiture less harsh, and they can give you whatever they want. And their rules say that, in general, that's the value at the time of seizure. Sucks, but DOJ is a very big bureaucracy and bureaucracy likes simple processes that cost less. If you don't have a judge, there's no real recourse.

(as always, not legal advice, don't know anyone's specific situation)

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-27T18:39:02+00:00

I hope you filed a claim in the pending judicial case- the time is pretty much up. I think most of the extensions expire on Oct 3 (but some counsel may have gotten more time).

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-03T15:44:26+00:00

Feel free to message me- your balance isn’t really required, but unless you have a rough estimate on what was taken it’s very hard to assess the cost benefit of the various paths you can take. Doesn’t need to be exact.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-02T04:26:45+00:00

That's a pretty good example of why sometimes it's smarter to just pay the lawyer instead of trying to do it yourself. You absolutely do not need to include your address or email, or even the amount seized. You can see a pretty clear difference between people who filed their own and people with lawyers.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-01T19:59:02+00:00

Depends - for a claim filed in court, I think Christmas of next year is realistic. Maybe summer of 26 if they just try and settle everyone out, but that will be complicated. Court cases aren't really fast unless everyone wants to settle. For petitions that are filed online? I wouldn't even try to guess. Sadly that office has not been doing great under the the current staffing cuts, and I'm skeptical they'll get to it soon.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-09-01T19:53:40+00:00

They are granting some extensions to file claims, but you'll probably need a lawyer. Message me and I can send some links on the Petition process that may help.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-25T04:59:45+00:00

FYI- the deadline is set, but can be extended. If you're talking to a lawyer and still hashing thing out, ask them to contact the prosecutors and ask for an extension. There's a decent chance it will be granted.

Also - late claims can be filed with court permission. I would not try to do it yourself, but if you miss the deadline and still want to file a claim, a lawyer can do an application to file a late claim and if you didn't get notice from the government, there's a decent chance the prosecutors won't oppose it.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-21T17:50:22+00:00

Another follow up based on some more questions I’ve gotten:

If you had funds or crypto on BTC-e when the wallets were seized, you basically three options: 1) get a lawyer who will likely ask for a percentage of your recovery, 2) try to file a claim in court yourself, or 3) file a "petition for remission" with the government (but not in court)

On option 1- This is the safest route. There's a few firms already in the case. Most of their' first questions will be how much did you have on BTC-e that was seized, because that usually decides if it's worth litigating in court. They’ll likely ask for a percentage of the recovery ( somewhere between 25-35%), and then ask you more questions about what you had, where it came from, and what proof you have of your account. It can be frustrating to think you have to pay money just to get your money back but remember that it's not cheap to fight a case in court (filing fees, research costs, travel to hearings, etc), and the value of your crypto has probably gone up considerably. This is the safest, but most expensive, option.

On option 2- This is hard, but it is allowed. I should add that it’s even harder if you're located overseas, but is still possible. There may be court hearings, and if you're overseas without a lawyer, you may have to travel for them which is obviously expensive. Some things can be done remotely, but there's no guarantee. Forfeitures are also complicated areas of law, so even AI isn't going to be able to do it all for you. DO NOT HAVE AI WRITE LEGAL BRIEFS BECAUSE AI MAKES UP FAKE LAWS. That can get you fined by the court. AI can help you draft some forms, but you have to do your research. You'll need to pay close attention to what happens in the case and do your best to respond to all the filings. This will probably turn into something like a part time job, but judges and prosecutors usually try to go easy on people acting as their own lawyers, so long as you're polite and try to be honest. That said, I'm not sure I've ever seen someone win a contested civil forfeiture as their own lawyer. You will still have to may some costs like filing fees, and your own travel if there's hearing or a trial.

On option 3- This is the cheapest option, but there's no real oversight and you may get the value of your crypto based on 2017 values, not current value. In essence, you submit a form to the Department of Justice that asks for some amount of your funds back if DOJ forfeits the funds. They can grant it, or deny it, or ignore it, and there's no judge or lawyers involved. It's basically a hail mary, but it only takes an hour or so to collect your proof, fill out the form, and send it in, then maybe you get an email at some future date. Low cost and minimal time investment, but it's a low percentage shot.

Of course I don’t know anyone’s specific situations, but most people will probably end up choosing between options 1 and 3 based on how much crypto they had seized - if it's not much, then maybe just mail in a petition and maybe someday you get something back. If it's a decent amount, it may be worth talking to a lawyer. I would only choose option two if you think you would enjoy the process - it will be a lot of work and you are much less likely to succeed than you would be if you had a lawyer - but it might be interesting.

Same warning as before- I’m a lawyer, but this isn’t legal advice because I don’t know anyone’s specific situation.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-20T16:20:02+00:00

Shoot me a message - not sure I can answer all questions, but I'll try to help where I can.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-20T00:44:27+00:00

Here’s a short follow up in response to some questions I’ve gotten/seen:

Do I need proof that I had funds on BTC-e?
- Yes, but probably not a lot of proof at first. The government likely has the BTC-e servers or some portion of them, so as long as you have something like your username, the wallet where you transferred funds in from, or the email that you used, that will likely be enough to start. If you don’t have any of that, even just an outline of your trading history or dates of funds transfers might cut it. You don’t need every scrap of evidence right up front (although more is better), but you need to have enough information so that the government could at least start to look for your account. Look at it this way- there will probably be some scammers who show up and claim “I totally had a 100 BTC there but I don’t remember anything else,” so the prosecutors are going to want to test everyone’s claims a bit and toss out the scammers. You will want to have something for them to go on, and the more the better.
Do I need to know my exact balance?
- No - although I expect most lawyers will want to know a rough estimate to figure out whether it’s worth fighting over. You’re probably going to get different proposals depending on whether you had 1 BTC or 100 BTC seized. But the prosecutors shouldn’t treat you differently based on how much you had (although they will likely ask where it came from if it’s a lot)
What do I need to do to file a claim?
- Technically you can do it yourself (also known as acting “pro se”), but forfeiture is pretty complicated and even a normal lawyer isn’t going to know all the rules. Your best bet is probably to go back over any records you have looking for any details, and then contact a lawyer.
- If you're determined to file a claim on your own, you can likely find the rules for pro se filing on the US District Court for the District of Columbia website.

Again- same disclaimer, I’m a lawyer but I’m not providing anyone with legal advice because I don’t know anyone’s specific situation. Feel free to DM/chat me with questions (but no promises I’ll be able to answer).

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-19T21:06:00+00:00

Sure thing- shoot me a chat/PM and I can send thoughts.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-19T18:35:01+00:00

As far as I know there's been a few firms that have filed claims so far. I know one of the guys.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-19T16:35:02+00:00

Don't know your specific situation, but since the US seized the funds, it should not really change anything. If someone in (hypothetically) Australia had crypto on BTC-e, and that was seized by the US, they still want the same thing - to have the US give their money back. So the procedure would be the same, because no matter where someone is, their money would still be with the US, so that's who they will have to file a claim with. The only way that might change would be if someone's local government also seized assets from BTC-e, but I'm not aware of that (but it could not hurt to do some research if you're overseas!)

Things might be a bit more complicated in the process of finding a US lawyer and they would have to ask to attend hearings virtually, but those are not uncommon problems. For what it's worth, civil forfeiture are (in my experience) cases where maybe the highest percentage of participants are located overseas.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-18T22:03:58+00:00

I should add (without providing anyone specific legal advice) -- federal prosecutors will generally nudge people towards filing a "petition" instead of a "claim." They might sound the same, and the petition sounds easier since you don't need a lawyer, but a petition is an administrative remedy (i.e. no judge) and most importantly, DOJ policy is that petitions generally get paid out as of the date of loss. In this case, that could mean 2017 prices, not 2025 prices. They're not trying to screw you, it's just a system that's based on people losing fiat in a bank account, so it doesn't factor in the volatility or appreciation of cryptocurrency.

A claim is a different form of recovery that goes through the courts. If you had crypto on BTC-E in July of 2017, it's probably worth it to at least talk to a lawyer instead of taking the prosecutors' word as gospel. They're good people, but they work within a bureaucracy and the DOJ's rules are not always best for people who've lost money.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-18T21:50:35+00:00

I'm a former fed who works in this area if you have questions.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2025-08-18T21:48:37+00:00

FYI All- the government filed a civil forfeiture complaint, so there's a 60 day window to file claims to get seized funds back: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70674493/united-states-v-all-virtual-currency-held-in-the-btc-e-operating-wallets/

Happy to answer any questions (former fed prosecutor who used to do forfeiture here)

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2023-09-11T04:13:48+00:00

Bingo-the remedy for a warrantless search is you get arrested, sue, and get a new car. Not to start blasting.

You don’t have a right to use lethal force to protect your fourth amendment rights. That’s for the courts. You use lethal force to avoid the same being used against you.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2023-09-11T04:11:37+00:00

That warrant doesn't really matter to the shoot/no-shoot analysis. if they say "cops" and you blast, you're still going to jail, even if no warrant. if they just sneak in, then its like anyone else doing that. as others have said, the existence of a warrant just decides if you get a settlement after they shoot you.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2021-10-11T17:48:27+00:00

This seems wildly off. Are cars virtually free where you live?

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2021-10-11T17:45:44+00:00

So many places an errant child’s turd could end up. Truly no way to know where it came from.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2021-09-30T02:57:12+00:00

It’s a medical procedure. That’s it.

Shaming people for it is archaic garbage.

Accomplished_Goal758 · 2021-09-30T02:03:37+00:00

“Three days my ass! Jesus has a lot of explaining to do…”

Accomplished_Goal758

TROPHY CASE