Australian police successfully cracked a coded cryptocurrency wallet backup, recovering 9 million Australian dollars ($5.9 million). The effort was hailed as “miraculous work” by Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett, who credited a data scientist as the “crypto safe cracker.” The wallet was linked to an alleged criminal who refused to hand over the keys.

The investigation into the criminal involved password-protected notes on a mobile phone and an image with random numbers and words. The numbers were divided into six groups with over 50 combinations, leading law enforcement to suspect a crypto wallet connection. The suspect’s refusal to cooperate could have made him a multi-millionaire upon release from prison.

To crack the code, an AFP data scientist deduced that the criminal had created a “crypto booby prize” with the numbers. By removing the first number from each sequence in the 24-word seed phrase, the wallet was successfully decoded. This isn’t the first time the AFP has recovered crypto assets, as a previous case saw over $3 million in digital assets retrieved.

The recovered crypto funds will be seized by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce. If the court orders the funds to be confiscated, the money will be placed in a commonwealth account and redistributed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke for crime prevention efforts. The successful recovery showcases the expertise of the AFP’s digital forensics team.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Australian Police Crack Coded Crypto Wallet Holding $5.9M