Spanish Court Orders Investigation of Possible Fraud After User loses 1.3 Bitcoin on Major Crypto Exchange

By: Henry Felix

March 2, 2021 10:31 AM

Spanish Court has issued an order for law enforcement agencies in the country to investigate the possibility of a computer fraud on major crypto exchange.

A Bittrex Exchange user based in Tenerife filed a complaint after claims he had lost 1.3 Bitcoin equivalent of $58,000 which he stored on the cryptocurrency platform.

According to reports from Spain, the user who remained unnamed started having problems when he was unable to access his Bittrex account restricting him from gaining access to his funds.

However, the user regained access 48 hours later to his surprise, the user reported that all "the money had literally disappeared." After contacting Biittrex support representative who then linked the theft to cybercriminals.

Spanish Court says in an order passed out on February 9th, that it wants police to carry out “a line of technological research which allows the author (of the theft) to be identified.” The court also wants “the Bittrex insurance company” to be included in the investigation to provide the appropriate insurance policy.

Nonetheless, the report also mentions an unnamed “expert” who explains the probable charges facing Bittrex as a result of the user’s loss. The expert who blamed Bittrex for the theft said:

Bittrex exchanged allowed four access attempts from different IP addresses before the incident in late February with different locations and different OS, all inconsistent with what was used by the user until that moment and Bittrex did nothing to deter it.

The expert said these “events happened on three different days from four separate locations France, Granada, Madrid and a town in Minnesota, in the United States.” the expert also claimed these should have allerted Bittrex as it signals a red flag.