A US court has issued a significant ruling regarding Bitcoin. The court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a citizen who claimed the FBI erased a hard drive containing 3,443 Bitcoins. A US court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Florida resident Michael Prem seeking $354 million in damages from the government for the loss of 3,443 Bitcoins, Decrypt reported. In its decision, the court said that the FBI had no negligence in this case and could not be held responsible for deleting a hard drive containing 3,443 BTC. Because the court stated that Perm did not report the existence of the Bitcoins in question while he was in prison. The court ruled that Prem, who was convicted of identity theft, had not previously officially declared that he owned such a large amount of Bitcoin and had not listed his Bitcoins as lost assets during his prison term, so he could not file a lawsuit against the government for the loss of cryptocurrency. What Happened? Michael Prem pleaded guilty to charges of device fraud, identity theft, and illegal firearms possession in 2019 and was sentenced to prison. During the search, the FBI seized a hard drive from his property. The FBI then followed standard protocols for seized electronic evidence and wiped the device. However, after his release from prison in 2022, Prem claimed that the FBI destroyed the drive without proper authorization, blocking access to 3,443 Bitcoins. The court rejected Prem’s claims, citing inconsistencies in his statements and his lateness in claiming ownership of the BTCs in question. In its ruling, the court noted that Prem's financial disclosure to the government in February 2020 revealed that he held only $200 to $1,500 worth of Bitcoin, and that upon his release from prison, he claimed to be a BTC billionaire. Citing contradictions between Prem's statements and the unreasonable passage of time, the court wrote: “Prime's claim of ownership rights came too late, and even if the Bitcoins were available, it would be unfair to return them to him.” Glassnode estimates that, based on data, approximately 7% of Bitcoin's total supply of 21 million has been permanently lost. *This is not investment advice. Continue Reading: A US Court Issues a Major Decision Regarding Bitcoin (BTC)! "FBI Found to Be Right!"
