Individual Responsible for Musk and Obama Bitcoin Fraud Confronts $5 Million Liability as Illegally Acquired Cryptocurrency Rises in Value

The British hacker linked to one of the most notorious Twitter breaches in recent memory has been mandated to forfeit over £4 million ($5 million) in cryptocurrency, following a significant increase in the value of his illicit digital assets during his incarceration.

Joseph James O’Connor, 26, was sentenced in the United States in 2023 for orchestrating the July 2020 Twitter breach that compromised the accounts of prominent individuals, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and various other global leaders, technology executives, and major corporations.

Exploiting access to Twitter’s internal administrative tools, O’Connor and his associates took control of over 130 accounts and disseminated tweets encouraging followers to send Bitcoin with the promise of receiving double the amount in return.

2020 Twitter Hack Mastermind Receives Five-Year Sentence for Crypto Theft
A participant in the notorious 2020 Twitter hack who deceived users out of thousands of dollars in #Bitcoin has been sentenced to five years in prison for his actions.#CryptoNews https://t.co/bsTkK3p2im

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) June 26, 2023

Prosecutors indicated that the group amassed over $794,000 through the scam.

Authorities Seize Millions in Crypto From Convicted Twitter Hacker Despite US Conviction

This week, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced it had obtained a civil recovery order targeting 42.378 BTC, 235.329 ETH, 143,273.57 BUSD, and 15.23 USDC associated with O’Connor, now valued at approximately £4.1 million.

The assets, which were worth only a small fraction of that sum at the time of the breach, will be liquidated by a court-appointed trustee. O’Connor, who currently resides in Spain, did not attend the London hearing, but his mother stated he was prepared to relinquish all remaining claims to the funds.

O’Connor admitted guilt in the United States to a series of charges, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money, extortion, making threatening communications, and stalking a 16-year-old victim.

He was extradited from Spain and sentenced to five years in prison before being deported earlier this year.

The CPS had previously secured a Property Freezing Order during extradition proceedings to prevent the movement of the cryptocurrency.

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, remarked that the case demonstrates authorities’ commitment to pursuing criminal profits even when convictions occur outside the UK.

“We were able to utilize the full extent of the powers available to us to ensure that even when someone is not convicted in the UK, we can still ensure they do not benefit from their criminal activities,” he stated.

Bitcoin Surge Amplifies Value of Assets Stolen in 2020 Twitter Hack

The increase in Bitcoin’s value has enhanced the worth of O’Connor’s stolen assets. At the current price near $92,800, nearly ten times higher than in mid-2020, the remaining assets have surged to over £4.1 million, according to prosecutors.

BTC Weekly Price Chart Source:Cryptonews

The Twitter breach was one of the largest failures in social media security ever documented. X, formerly Twitter, temporarily restricted verified accounts as the scam affected more than 350 million users.

Investigators later revealed that two unsuspecting British associates opened cryptocurrency accounts used by O’Connor but were not complicit in the fraud.

This case emerges amid growing concerns regarding crypto-related cybercrime, with governments globally reporting a rapid increase in sophisticated digital extortion schemes.

Law enforcement agencies have also noted a significant rise in cryptocurrency laundering. According to Global Ledger data referenced in the filings, hackers stole over $3 billion across 119 incidents in the first eight months of 2025 alone, already exceeding the total for 2024 by 1.5 times.

Meanwhile, separate enforcement actions continue on an international scale. In November, the US Justice Department initiated efforts to seize over $15 million in USDT linked to North Korea’s APT38 hacking unit, associated with a series of significant exchange breaches in 2023.

The US DOJ is seeking to seize over $15 million in USDT connected to North Korean state-sponsored hacking unit APT38.#NorthKorea #Cryptohttps://t.co/LdPBVFKOhG

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) November 16, 2025

Europol also dismantled a cybercrime syndicate responsible for creating over 49 million fake online accounts, including fraudulent profiles on cryptocurrency platforms, utilizing a large-scale SIM-farm infrastructure.

Despite the increase in global investigations, recent data indicates that the industry is witnessing short-term improvements in security.

October 2025 was recorded as the safest month of the year for cryptocurrency platforms, with only $18.18 million lost to hacks, an 85% decrease from September.

The post Hacker Behind Musk & Obama Bitcoin Scam Faces Staggering $5M Bill as Stolen Crypto Soars appeared first on Cryptonews.