The Man Who Stole $3.4 Billion From The Dark Web's Kingpin

The real life of Jimmy "Bitcoin Bandit" Zhong and his patient 50,000 bitcoin heist.
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/ kirayt
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#darkweb #crypto #2024

[@SargisFarter]

Why do we rarely get to create awareness about bitcoin and crypto SCAMS while promoting cryptocurrencies

[@raymondhenry6200]

Some creators do but most don't LISTEN! Fortunately, there's a possibility of tracing your lost assets if you have sufficient information to back your claim I've been able to recover for the most part what I've lost to these bad actors thanks to Rob

[@raymondhenry6200]

RobertoBiscardo

[@raymondhenry6200]

he is active on the TE IE GRAM

[@EraChanZ]

Honestly though.. living like a super rich guy for so long.. for 1 year of prison.. I'd take that deal.

[@some-replies]

Year in prison wouldn't be easy for a guy looking like Jimmy

[@sarcasticstartrek7719]

... he didn't get to keep the bitcoins.

[@sandre6k]

@@sarcasticstartrek7719if he has any braincells he prolly has secret wallets

[@Noireinself]

in prison he is the cake

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

​@@Noireinself It's federal prison, those are vastly different and nicer from state prisons.

[@SharmV]

Jimmy is the guy that called 911 for the fries at McDonald’s when he had an active warrant out for his arrest.

[@peger]

Hello police. My GF stole a bag of cocaine from me xD

[@sergiokaminotanjo]

or like be caught with that Newark Police Department twit that said "Is your meth laced with deadly gluten? Not sure? Bring your meth down to the PD and we will test it for you for free!"

[@mikeydflyingtoaster]

I bet loads of people will think this is a hypothetical example!

[@TheElbowMerchant]

Not just a warrant; he was suspected of homicide. Dude called the cops on a McDonald's employee over cold French fries while having a warrant for FELONY MURDER! You can't make this sh!t up!

[@vanesslifeygo]

surprised no one brought that up when the news channels covered it on KZbin.

[@kombatwombat6579]

I didn't know this man and yet here I am, absolutely mesmerized with this story.

[@Ryan_Atomic]

jimmy wrote this about himself, and liked it 46 times on his other accounts.

[@kombatwombat6579]

@@Ryan_Atomic I didn't say it was a GOOD mesmerizing, my sibling. Sometimes you just can't stop looking at a trainwreck.

[@DavidKen878]

@@kombatwombat6579Theres a better version of his story on here. It's over an hour long and includes body cam footage of him being getting buddy buddy with the cops in his living room. 😂

[@ddeenis77]

@@DavidKen878do you have a link? Or channel name? Appreciate it

[@mrmotofy]

@@ddeenis77 Probably just search for it

[@Gravewhisper]

super genius gets caught by literally asking the police to look into him. If this was a movie, we'd call it a plothole and dumb writing. :D

[@makoto3212]

yeah but look at him, his parents didn't care about him and he bought his way into social groups. he was destined to fail lol

[@bzipoli]

we'd be "naaaah imma walk out this movie is dumb NO ONE WOULD BE THIS DUMB"

[@strongfoot2009]

He is not a genius. He is a mere criminal.

[@justinweber4977]

It's how BTK was caught, too, essentially.

[@ekki1993]

Reality is often stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense.

[@BevinEG]

Ugh. Its always good to see these stories. Reminds me that no matter what, I'm very fallible and 300% prone to screwing up. I can live with this...

[@donniev8181]

lol 300%

[@jacobramirez4894]

I’m 369%

[@Eldnoa]

Jimmy shoulda just went to the gym and lived comfortably on the low spending just what he needs to be cozy

[@itisjustacomment]

Greedy

[@IndicatedGoodLife]

If you decide between everything or nothing it really tends to be a binary question. You guys now would scream to seatle but given the opportunity you would struggle with the same question.

[@lovablevietboy]

@@IndicatedGoodLife After watching videos like this, I would save everything somewhere safe first so if anything went down I would be good one day lol

[@Blisterdude123]

People who don't earn their wealth don't value their wealth. They need others to value them for having it. And their need to expand that wealth they don't value becomes a bottomless hunger.

[@OiledLabia]

Hindsight is 2020

[@shadowcaptaincain]

When you steal money, don't sit there flexing the stolen money to the police to impress them. But what a sad existence. Worst part is he probably knew all those people he was surrounding himself with were only there cause he had money, he just wanted that attention so badly, he didn't care. So when he got out of prison was to a sad realization that all his "friends" were gone forever.

[@zaberfang]

I mean politicians and scam artists like Elon Musk have been doing those for years.

[@Vikanuck]

“When you steal money, don’t sit there flexing the stolen money to the police to impress them”… …thanks tips 👍 but how the hell else am I supposed to make friends?? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@shadowcaptaincain]

@@Vikanuck There is always getting involved in a conspiracy theory, and surrounding yourself with lunatics that are completely detached from reality. As long as you don't drink the Kool-Aid, you can just sit there and laugh your ass off at how brain dead stupid they are.

[@DavidKen878]

Aww. Are you projecting?

[@shadowcaptaincain]

@@DavidKen878 Well smart ass, since you asked, I've been there, in my late teens/early 20s. Didn't know any better. Then a wise man said to me, "You can tell who your friends really are by the ones who stick with you through the bad times as well as the good times."

[@b0zz1380y]

I’ve heard this story so many times but each time it baffles me how smart and stupid he was concurrently

[@biggiesmalls3096]

All it takes is one mistake. He was free for years. It’s easy to think your not gonna be caught after years of getting away with it

[@justinduran1]

That's every one though. The guy who took over Silkroad 2 actually went to my church, Blake Benthall. He was the definition of straight edge. Didn't curse, drink, or do drugs. He got caught because he thought the IRS wouldn't catch onto a college student with no income purchasing a Tesla with cash

[@fyisic]

Kira with another banger, great day today.

[@jpl7693]

I'm kind of relieved he only got a year tbh. Dude stole imaginary money from drug dealers, threw a few parties and basically turned himself in. Not a bad dude lol.

[@erikleblanc4539]

That’s one way of looking at it 😅

[@oneriver17]

He handed over the keys I guess

[@skuttle7107]

The funny thing is that if he had waited just a few more years, the statute of limitations for wire fraud could have passed and he might have evaded prison altogether

[@justinduran1]

There's a million ifs with this guy. If he wouldn't have called the cops initially, if he liquidated his crypto and didn't keep it on a thumb drive, if he didn't blow half a million at bars, if he didn't consent to law enforcement sitting next to him and seeing his crypto wallet, if he didn't register his real name with an exchange, if he knew how to launder money, if he knew how to lay low after committing one of the biggest robin hood heists of all time. His biggest flaw was being too nice and too desperate for attention.

[@char1211]

​@@justinduran1 In what way was he too nice?

[@justinduran1]

@char1211 He was extremely nice and forthcoming with law enforcement as well as everyone that he came across out at bars. There's things that aren't mentioned in this video but he essentially took money from drug dealers and gave out the money to people at bars. He would buy everyones drinks and let people take advantage of him buy borrowing money from him whenever. He consistently helped out the law enforcement in his town and welcomed them into his house with open arms while he was under investigation.

[@char1211]

@@justinduran1 Oh ok! I figured he paid for a lot of people's drinks and such but I would chalk that up to "being too desperate for attention" so that's why I asked. I can see how being too nice was also part of his downfall now!

[@joelwillems4081]

​@@justinduran1Yeah, this one is subpar on the subject. One of his ftriends talk about him paying for a first class vacation and given his friends thousands in spending cash.

[@some-replies]

No way!!!! My buddy Ryan went to UGA and totally knew this guy. I've seen his face before

[@wondledonkey]

Did your coke buddy randomly get $400k?

[@fraudxyvea4927]

@@wondledonkey 🤣🤣

[@jasonkanen7113]

You see in this kind of stories almost all the time the guy gets caught because they get sloppy

[@biggiesmalls3096]

You just have to make one mistake.

[@Sigh_chedelic]

I suppose we wouldn’t be seeing if if they weren’t

[@RayvenLunaNite]

As if that one trace wasn't lead enough for the authorities, he practically confessed by showing his btc wallet to actual police... (chorus of facepalms)

[@kidpresident_1475]

This is one of my favorite stories now covered by my favorite KZbin channel. Big ups Kira ❤

[@some-replies]

I was right!! He is the guy i was thinking about! Holy shit, talk about a blast from the past. My buddy was a "big time" cokehead at UGA and 100% hung out woth this dude regularly.

[@A-se2ur]

Can confirm. Me, Ryan and Jimmy were all familiar faces at some of the wildest parties.

[@bigwebsite727]

Same

[@jbiliHacker]

i guess he's the one that stole the 400k from him LMAO.

[@greatwhiteswag]

samesies

[@Davis-fym]

Lmaooo

[@bipolarminddroppings]

0:11 "Tell me you're filthy rich without telling me"

[@Shroud66]

This right here is the type of story that inspires characters like Daniel Wormald from Better Call Saul.

[@itisjustacomment]

Another great video , well paced and jimmy, is fascinating character.

[@CollaateraL]

Omg yes. I clicked so fast. Thanks brother

[@backpackingtony1779]

What’s Jimmy doing now? I doubt he’s sitting quietly at a desk job. Not with an ego like his.

[@Lilith_Xolaani]

6:15 "Sentiment that bitcoin was money laundering" 7:35 You... just described money laundering. I just gotta say: Whenever I think you can't possibly outdo yourself, you keep outdoing yourself with both the script and the editing. I'm in awe.

[@kredoros3856]

It's not really money laundering,just because you unlink the bitcoin from the initial account doesn't mean it's now clean and useable,money laundering is mixing illegal money with legal money most commonly through a business

[@davefil6102]

i learned about bitcoin on coast to coast radio back in the day, silk road too

[@John-mf6ky]

RIP Art Bell

[@alldayeveryJA]

​@John-mf6ky damn. When did art bell die? I haven't heard that show in what seems like decades

[@LockeRobsta]

1 year in prison is nothing. Ross Ulbricht knowing your name is everything...

[@HIRAMECLARKEHOPS]

The glaze is real, but free Ross Ulbricht fr.

[@DavidKen878]

It's only been 11 years. It's too early for that lol

[@alldayeveryJA]

I met Jimmy looking like an asian scarface from the scene where pacino headbanged himself into the powder....this was in a club in NYC, at a table that cost $50,000 for the night and surrounded by a sea of bobbleheads. I took one of them home that night. She been my wife for 11 years. Thanks again Jimmy! I had a great night!!

[@hughjass3971]

😭😭😭

[@mrmotofy]

Yea sure

[@SaltareObscurum]

That is like the MegaUpload Guy. Or the McAfee Guy. Maybe you can make a Video about these too. Insane story’s

[@MrRhoidRage]

Mcafee is wild, a lot of conspiracy around that one

[@SharmV]

@@MrRhoidRage too much scat fetish and ketamine or whatever he was snortin

[@mrbubbles6468]

@@MrRhoidRageI mean, dude was quite obviously murdered.

[@RayvenLunaNite]

Check the video uploads or search kiratv McAfee/megaupload guy. See if he has already

[@PreySim]

Stories*

[@CloudCoderChap]

Although BTC isn’t untraceable. It isn’t magic per se. XMR is truly untraceable and is widely used now where BTC used to be.

[@glue-sniffer]

So he got a year in prison for stealing from silk road ? That's crazy

[@pvshka]

Yeo. Stealing illegal money is like double the crime, basically.

[@poolhalljunkie9]

@pvshka Only for us. The federal government does it all of the time.

[@pvshka]

@@poolhalljunkie9 that goes without saying

[@jerkface38]

​@@pvshkahe didn't actually steal it though. He found the exploit, notified silk road and was told he could keep it. No theft.

[@nichan008]

@@pvshka It was only a year, more like two crimes make a slap on the wrist.

[@linctest326]

heard this story like 4 times now ty

[@SharmV]

Jimmy seems more of a simp than a party guy

[@aoh4905]

I would say nice. You don't have to be fragile alpha dude to be a cool party guy. Sounds like was kind and generous but should have kept his $$$ a bit more secretive.

[@thomasreynolds1530]

@@aoh4905 found the simp

[@Akira12974]

​@aoh4905 yea most people who do drugs and get sucked into the "party" aren't daddy's little white boy who actually had the option to say no and face no consequences. The "party life" is full of crime, despair, loss, suffering, and death. Nothing to aspire to be. Smart people will apply themselves wherever they find themselves to survive, criminal or not.

[@sputumtube]

It's the old story - "pride comes before a fall".....

[@strongfoot2009]

Very old story!. Recycle stories for a buck is just another idea online.

[@XBluDiamondX]

I think his need to be validated and accepted by others motivated him more than pride did.

[@Markyroson]

Love your stuff! Glad to see your channel really growing.

[@Gizmologist_]

FYI, The patents for bitcoin were developed by IBM and are now owned by the NSA

[@mynameisnobody211]

He should have just left the States and gone to a non extradition country and lived happily ever after.

[@sinetic147]

Less than 1% of this guy's wealth would completely change my life

[@branjimguy]

Always quality

[@Itskilo]

Well done Ash, another banger.

[@Shadowslave604]

jimmy could have been set for life if he had laid low. i will never understand the need to be the centre of attention and flash all that cash. lmao.

[@aoh4905]

He probably regrets it. Honestly in my early 20s I would have that kind of mindset too. Now in my late 30's no way I'm going to be flashy. I'll just take out an extra 20-50k a year for "extra' income lol

[@XBluDiamondX]

He didn't even need the stolen Bitcoin, if he used what he had legitimately smartly.

[@Noname23489]

@@XBluDiamondXfacts kid could of taken his 18M he made Legit and parked it at a 5% high yield savings and been set for life living off 900k a year interest smh

[@PushaDee]

@@Noname23489 Probably not something you think about when you have 3 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin.

[@kavinh10]

deja vu? i thought for sure kira already made a video on this guy

[@alastairkristoffersen110]

Only a year in prison?! He must have sang like a canary. He's got to be working for the federal government now...

[@OrgaNik_Music]

Eh, he stole from a criminal

[@truthseeker2222]

@@OrgaNik_Music Yeah its BS thats even a crime. When the gov does it, its a seizure and they are hero's. A civilian does it, goes to jail, and has 3 billion "seized" now from them. Brutal.

[@DavidKen878]

He didn't spend the money.

[@XBluDiamondX]

​@@DavidKen878 That didn't matter. He could have been sentenced to up to 20 years for wire fraud, but the judge decided to be lenient. Zhong got incredibly lucky.

[@DavidKen878]

@@XBluDiamondX It does matter. What are you talking about? It makes a huge difference. Also just because you are facing up to 20 years doesn't mean the judge is being lenient if you don't get the full 20. Federal guidelines play a big part in determining someone's sentence.

[@D0NU75]

"Here lies Jimmy, had all the money in the world and not from start to end ever looked good"

[@rsorry]

Love these crypto documentaries! 🔥

[@CatsMeowPaw]

He may have received only one year in jail, but everyone knows who he is now. Including the people he stole from.

[@stee8345]

I love all your Dark Web videos 😊

[@Darien_England]

This is gonna be a great watch

[@8alltime]

Perhaps the worst part is that he admitted he only got laid one time during all this and that was when he paid the women. Imagine spending so much cash and living the ‘high’ life and not even be able to get laid without paying a couple times.

[@Losthisbeans]

Honey, put the kids to sleep. Kira just dropped😮

[@karlpower5476]

I was sitting through this thinking this was going to end in Jimmy's assassination from a drug lord 😂

[@dreamworldtony]

Ok ok ok!! Kira upload let’s go. Just brushed my teeth boutta chug orange juice

[@RobertInTheCloud]

Great video again 👍🏻

[@wordnet7]

0:04 On the surface...... he looks calm and ready

[@namebrandlabel]

Too much spaghetti

[@V-187]

Who thinks this guy had one real solid friend that didnt want access to his money?? Maybe his mom, b4 she demanded the benz

[@BSSXProMix]

Was just searching to pass 30min you're a god Kira, now if you excuse me i have to watch this masterpiece

[@wvguy7238]

1 year and 1 day in federal prison means he gets 47 days good time and up to 6 months halfway house, but people with that short of time usually get 1-3 months, meaning he'd serve at most 9.5 months in prison. Likely a federal prison camp, which is eaaaaassssy time.

[@bokka409]

Hope he did hide some cash in diffrent locations.

[@dasoslukos]

I LIVE in Athens, GA & work in the IT field. How'd I NOT know about this??? LOL

[@Raymond-j3x]

I noticed this at 8:01. "if the exchange didn't cooperate with law enforcement". Here's the thing fellas NO ONE cooperates with law enforcement, Until They Do.

[@t0m_mcc]

Except for lavabit. Fair dues

[@will_5053]

Love your videos man!

[@abc-dk3md]

imagine having 3B$ and call police for 400k 😂

[@SandwichMan.]

Just makes you facepalm. He could have taken the money he made legit on bitcoin, invested it and never had to work again. What a waste.

[@XraynPR]

the thing Im most impressed with it that anatomy of the right guy in the red shirt at 13:29

[@johnreidmusic]

his arm? haha fun illusion

[@darionbuck4614]

There's another guy in red right behind him

[@NoRezos]

@@darionbuck4614 Wow, seriously didn't realise that. Like, how the f his shoulder like that

[@Vecha302]

So...who got the money? US Tax payers or those that get paid with US tax dollars?

[@MakoHazard]

You know the answer. The Govt. mafia and their cronies of course.

[@MoonlitWood]

I don't know if this one got taken down or if I've just seen this story from another creator but always glad to see a Kira upload regardless.

[@x1p00]

probably reupload thought the same.

[@bobcreature2127]

Lmao the Mercedes he was flexing was ancient even back when this occurred.

[@BillAnt]

It's a sentimental thing even if it's old.

[@bobcreature2127]

@@BillAnt Oh no, does he have KZbin accounts too? Are you him? It can be sentimental, but to flex a car like that when you have millions, albeit not very liquid, is pretty silly. Not to mention, afaik, there isn't anything special about that model. Not like it was an SLR Mclaren or an SLS AMG.

[@BillAnt]

@@bobcreature2127 - #Loaded :D :D

[@mraj8372]

Always enjoy these

[@Commandersanta]

Yeah, I can see Jonah Hill playing this character.

[@ArcherLium]

Keep making these hacker stories videos

[@TheGhostInTheWires]

If I have 200 million dollars and somebody steals 400k from me, I'm just going to write it off and say "congrats whoever you are, you got me" and then immediately move to a more secure home. I'd rather do that than deal with the cops.

[@SorenHume]

Aaaand who is tracking what the Feds did with that $3.4B?....... Jimmy probably would have put it to better use.

[@Libalah-fd9iq]

Top tier presale just begun. I think Cortux is one of the most promissing projects year to date.

[@derbness]

I do believe Jimmy has a small stash hidden somewhere

[@slimkid0225]

I've never believed that this guy has not been backend...him and the owner of the Silk ROad. God forgive us and show mercy.

[@EarnestWilliamsGeofferic]

Jimmy is a legend.

[@javierpatag3609]

Actually a pretty sad story. Now that Jimmy’s out, I hope he finds honest work. His intelligence and skills should give him good employment.

[@FeiFongWang]

27:25 I'd just like to draw attention to the fact that this guy who was mercilessly bullied as a kid has a "Trump: Fuck your feelings" banner taking up most of the space behind his couch.

[@mordsythe]

Thank you for pointing it out. I genuinely didn’t notice it.

[@greatwhiteswag]

who cares fam

[@bobsmudger3979]

How, do tell, does childhood trauma affect political biases in adulthood?

[@LennyMiller739]

What's your point?

[@LennyMiller739]

You're just desperate to have another useless conversation about politics that you don't even understand. Stop. Get a life

[@ttvownalone3085]

this guy needs a movie. what a fucking G.

[@zynxmynx69]

"Physical Bitcoin" = 😀😃😄😁😆😅🤣😂😂😂

[@jackoalltrades5510]

Intelligent? Yes. Smart? Nope.

[@MarksmanSpecialist]

right place at the right time and also wrong place at the wrong time.

[@antondovydaitis2261]

Both the same.

[@Chemira.]

20:12 meow (cat in the background)

[@Urban_Flux]

you do keep telling the stories well my friend! ;O)

[@calvinthedestroyer]

It's really sad that the IRS now has control over 500,000 bitcoins.

[@Abdullahhh]

I refuse to believe that all of his wealth is gone he surely has millions hiding somewhere or at least I hope so!

[@Squirrelex]

Only a year in prison? And got to live a rich person's life for longer than that? That might be worth it

[@calsnoboarder]

He had money... he should have hired a private investigator to find the person... when you are a criminal, you really can't ask the police for help.

[@123basedddd]

Need a video about the guy who setup ross ulbrich pretending to be 3 different people to scam him for millions

[@stee8345]

He already did a whole video on this reading the transcripts and everything

[@123basedddd]

@@stee8345 wtf and u couldnt link???

[@Texelion3Dprints]

Escrow is a really funny name. In french, escroc ( prounounced escro ) means scammer or con man...

[@carolynrjackson]

I thought in French it meant a scroll of parchment/paper?

[@Texelion3Dprints]

@@carolynrjackson Mmmh no a scroll is "rouleau".

[@carolynrjackson]

@@Texelion3Dprints sorry I meant in old French - escrow is derived from the old French "escroue", which means scroll of parchment I think? Very interesting that the word now means "con man"! 😂

[@strongfoot2009]

Criminal.

[@dougray30]

Oh good, a Labor Day Kira deep-dive!

[@Glocksten]

My favorite thing about how the feds work is once they take the coins they just get to keep it not like they return it to the people that had them taken from them

[@Bitcoin.69]

Damn Brody - this craaazzyyy

[@johnsimon8457]

Reminds me of another couple who had a few million in stolen bitcoin who had to live off of cash cards $100 at a time because they couldn’t convert the BTC to USD without bringing down hell.

[@carolynrjackson]

This is absolutely wild, and I am only half way through the video! I also wish I had got in early on Bitcoin 😢

[@sgeazy]

Your Ashley Madison video is used for an example in my cyber security college course on insider threats.

[@onlyme0349]

I mean maybe if he was actually smart he would've gotten more time in prison, no one can look at you as a criminal if you're incredibly incompetent at being a criminal

[@harryconger12]

Great preso Kira!

[@kaikapihya]

Moral of the story, don’t seek validation from anyone. You have nothing to prove

[@PushaDee]

Human nature.

[@ZeinErsyad]

ah, hello, so you talk about games in this channel ya, been waiting on your TV channels for talking about games again. good news for me found this channel :)

[@SeelkadoomPL]

23:39 I was so worried this was going to be a sneaky VPN ad

[@christjantallara9642]

Does anyone else think that, for a smart guy, he had to have hidden a flash drive in other countries?