Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been in the news for all the wrong reasons several times over the years, after its use for a range of nefarious and illegal activities. The Silk Road, a darknet marketplace that was closed down by the FBI and DEA, is the most popular example of the same.

The latest report from Brazil has put the spotlight on Bitcoin once again. Reports claim that a Brazilian hacker codenamed “mysterious peacock” has exposed confidential documents on Twitter, claiming to have traced BTC deposits amounting to $300,000 paid by The Intercept to Evgenyi Bogachev, one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s [FBI] most wanted black hat hackers.

The involvement of Bitcoin seems to have strengthened the notion that all transactions in the deal were meant to be secretive so that there was no paper trail. The Intercept is an online news publication website co-founded by Glenn Greenwald, which shot to popularity when it revealed that it possessed secret documents procured by Edward Snowden. The documents contained incriminating evidence against the investigative agencies of both the United States and the United Kingdom and its effects, forced Snowden to take refuge in multiple extradition-free nations.

The chain of transactions connecting Evgenyi Bogachev, Greenwald and the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Sergio Moro, allegedly paints an effort to destabilize the much-talked-about Brazilian government. Several tweets by the alleged parties were taken down within minutes of uploading, with “Mysterious Peacock” revealing that the tweets were saved for security purposes.

One part of the alleged transaction seems to have taken place with a hash of 04f8ded76210a411b746c284a840d864b6cd1df6178d7e46ca648cbfd886b07d. The sender wallet had an address of 1Jekm8ZswQmDhLFMp9cuYb1Kcq26riFp6m, while the two receiving addresses were 1CPW3oDXtXzmfSTNHY9xs7NdKbC2WvzKVz and 1Jekm8ZswQmDhLFMp9cuYb1Kcq26riFp6m. The revelation was also covered by a local Brazilian news publication who reported,

“Panama that will have a fundamental importance in the long explanation that will follow, the place where the Bitcoins have become Ethereums, and that almost spoil the investigation. Omidyar is the financier behind everything, using everything and everyone in his crusade against the system that made him a billionaire.”

It should be noted however that all parties involved in the episode are yet to testify about the same. Further, all allegations are yet to be independently corroborated.

The post Bitcoin worth $300,000 at the center of an alleged scandal involving Brazil’s Justice Minister, The Intercept appeared first on AMBCrypto.

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