In the fight against cybercrime, Britain struck a blow: on November 17, 2025, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced a civil order for the confiscation of crypto assets worth £4.1 million ($5.4 million) from Joseph James O'Connor, a 26-year-old hacker involved in the high-profile Twitter hack in July 2020. The order pertains to 42 $BTC and other coins, such as Ethereum and stablecoins, linked to the fraud scheme.
O'Connor, known as "PlugWalkJoe", pleaded guilty in the US to computer hacking, fraud, and extortion, for which he received 5 years in prison in 2023. He was arrested in Spain in 2021 and extradited. Hackers compromised over 130 celebrity accounts—from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk to Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian. They posted fake tweets promising "double returns" on BTC, collecting $100,000 in hours.
"We use all our strength to ensure that criminals do not benefit," said prosecutor Adrian Foster. Assets are liquidated by a trusted court, returning to the victims. Over 5 years, CPS has confiscated £478 million, of which £95 million goes to the victims. This is a precedent for crypto cases: British assets of hackers can be seized abroad.
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