{"id":85406,"date":"2026-04-24T06:31:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=85406"},"modified":"2026-04-24T06:31:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T06:31:42","slug":"467k-in-crypto-seized-as-spain-cracks-down-on-illegal-piracy-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=85406","title":{"rendered":"$467K In Crypto Seized As Spain Cracks Down On Illegal Piracy Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Spanish police made an unusual discovery during their raid \u2014 two crypto cold wallets tucked inside a household wall thermometer. The devices contained roughly 400,000 euros, about $467,000.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested three suspects in Almer\u00eda in connection with what officials described as the biggest illegal Spanish-language manga distribution platform<\/a> in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

The site had been running since 2014. Over roughly a decade, it pulled in more than 4 million euros \u2014 around $4.55 million \u2014 mostly through advertising revenue. Visitors got free access to pirated manga<\/a> while the operators quietly collected ad money in the background.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Interior Ministry confirmed the arrests<\/a> and the seizure. The investigation was opened in June 2025 after rights holders filed complaints against the platform.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Whether Police Can Actually Access The Funds Remains Unclear<\/h2>\n

Seizing a cold wallet<\/a> is one thing. Getting inside it is another.<\/p>\n

Cold wallets require a PIN or a seed phrase<\/a> to unlock. Without those credentials, the hardware is essentially useless \u2014 the funds stay locked<\/a>, inaccessible to anyone, including law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Officials have not said whether they obtained the information needed to open the devices. Spain\u2019s Interior Ministry had not responded to requests for comment before the story was published.<\/p>\n

\n

Spanish National Police have dismantled a major illegal manga distribution website that had been operating since 2014 from Almer\u00eda.<\/p>\n

The site drew millions of users and earned more than 4 million \u20ac from ads<\/p>\n

Officers arrested 3 people on intellectual property crime charges.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/RtkDie2kfw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pirat_Nation \"\ud83d\udd34\" (@Pirat_Nation) April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The case puts a spotlight on a problem that police departments worldwide are still working through. Hardware wallets are showing up in investigations that have nothing to do with crypto fraud or digital currency schemes. Piracy operations<\/a>, it turns out, are now storing earnings the same way crypto investors do.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

South Korea Has Faced Its Own Custody Failures<\/h2>\n

Even when authorities can access seized crypto, holding onto it has proven difficult. South Korea has dealt with two high-profile losses of confiscated digital assets in recent years.<\/p>\n

In one case, about 22 Bitcoin \u2014 valued at $1.5 million at the time \u2014 went missing<\/a> from the Gangnam Police Station.<\/p>\n

The funds had been seized in 2021 and vanished without the cold wallet being physically stolen, according to reports. A nationwide audit of digital asset custody practices uncovered the loss.<\/p>\n

Featured image from DualShockers, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spanish police made an unusual discovery during their raid \u2014 two crypto cold wallets tucked inside a household wall thermometer. The devices contained roughly 400,000 euros, about $467,000. Authorities arrested three suspects in Almer\u00eda in connection with what officials described as the biggest illegal Spanish-language manga distribution platform in the country\u2019s history. The site had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-85406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}