Elon Musk and Barack Obama hacked! Bitcoin eyewash mastermind chased for 5 million dollars.

The British hacker Joseph James O'Connor, responsible for the most serious data breach in Twitter's history in 2020, has been ordered to forfeit over £4.1 million ($5 million) in Crypto Assets. The 26-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison in the United States in 2023 for orchestrating the Twitter attack in July 2020, which resulted in the accounts of globally renowned figures such as Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, and Kim Kardashian being compromised.

Restoration of the Most Severe Social Media Attack Incident in History

(Source: X)

In July 2020, Twitter experienced one of the most notorious data breaches in recent history. Utilizing access to Twitter's internal management tools, O'Connor and his accomplices hijacked over 130 accounts and posted tweets urging followers to send Bitcoin, promising to receive double the return. The list of victims from this attack reads like a who's who of global power and wealth: Musk, Obama, Biden, Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and other world leaders, tech executives, and major brands.

The prosecutor stated that the group raised over 794,000 USD through fraudulent activities. This figure was already quite considerable at the time, but compared to today's value, it's just the tip of the iceberg. The Twitter data breach affected over 350 million users, and X (later renamed Twitter) temporarily blocked verified accounts to curb the spread of fraudulent activities. This attack revealed that even the world's largest social media platform has serious vulnerabilities in its internal security system.

At that time, Musk's account had over 36 million followers, while Obama's account had more than 120 million followers. The Bitcoin scam tweets released by these hacked high-profile accounts gained a large number of retweets and attention in a short period. Many unsuspecting users believed these “official” tweets and sent Bitcoin to the scam addresses, hoping for double returns. This method of fraud, which exploits trust relationships, has reached an unprecedented scale in the age of social media.

Investigators later stated that two unsuspecting British accomplices opened the Crypto Assets account used by O'Connor, but did not participate in the fraud activities. This highlights the complexity of the entire criminal network, with participants spread across different countries, each responsible for different links, making investigation and tracking extremely difficult.

Bitcoin price surge amplifies compensation amount

Despite the conviction in the United States, authorities have seized millions of dollars in Crypto Assets from the convicted Twitter hacker. This week, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK confirmed that a civil recovery order has been obtained targeting 42.378 BTC, 235.329 ETH, 143273.57 BUSD, and 15.23 USDC linked to O'Connor, currently valued at approximately £4.1 million ($5 million).

These assets were worth only a fraction of their current value during the hacker attack. The rise in Bitcoin prices has boosted the value of the assets stolen from O'Connor. Prosecutors stated that, calculated at the current price of nearly 92,800 dollars, it is almost ten times the price in mid-2020, and the remaining assets have surged to over 4.1 million pounds. In July 2020, Bitcoin prices hovered around the 9,000 to 10,000 dollar range, and by 2025, Bitcoin had gone through several bull markets, breaking the 100,000 dollar mark.

Details of Crypto Assets Recovered from O'Connor

42.378 BTC: Calculated at the current approximate 92800 USD, worth about 3.93 million USD.

235.329 ETH: Calculated at the current price of about 3200 USD, worth approximately 750,000 USD.

143273.57 BUSD + 15.23 USDC: Total stablecoins approximately 143000 USD

This surge in value has created a unique legal and economic phenomenon: the value of criminal proceeds appreciates significantly during imprisonment. For law enforcement agencies, this is an unexpected windfall, as the amount recovered far exceeds the initial criminal proceeds. But for O'Connor, this means that he has not only lost his freedom but also the huge wealth he could have gained from the Bitcoin bull market.

These assets will be liquidated by a trustee appointed by the court. O'Connor, who currently resides in Spain, did not attend the hearing in London, but his mother stated that he is willing to waive any remaining interests. The UK Royal Prosecution Service had previously obtained an asset freeze order in the extradition proceedings to prevent the transfer of Crypto Assets, and this precaution ensures that authorities can ultimately recover these assets.

International Extradition and Severe Sentences

O'Connor admitted to multiple crimes in the United States, including conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, extortion, threatening communications, and stalking a 16-year-old victim. He was extradited back to the country from Spain and sentenced to five years in prison, after which he was deported earlier this year. This case illustrates the importance of international law enforcement cooperation in combating transnational cybercrime.

Adrian Foster, Chief Prosecutor of the Criminal Proceeds Division of the UK Crown Prosecution Service, stated that this case demonstrates that authorities will pursue criminal proceeds even if the conviction occurs overseas. He said: “We are able to fully utilize the powers we have to ensure that even if someone is not convicted in the UK, we can still ensure they do not benefit from their criminal activities.” This cross-border recovery mechanism sets an important precedent for combating international Crypto Assets crime in the future.

O'Connor's case is not an isolated incident. As people are highly concerned about internet crimes related to Crypto Assets, governments around the world are reporting that complex digital ransom schemes are rapidly increasing. Law enforcement agencies have also pointed out that money laundering activities involving Crypto Assets have surged dramatically. According to data from Global Ledger cited in the documents, hackers stole over $3 billion in 119 incidents in just the first eight months of 2025, which is 1.5 times higher than the total amount in 2024.

Global Crypto Assets Crime Enforcement Trends

At the same time, international law enforcement actions continue to be taken. In November last year, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an operation aimed at seizing over 15 million USDT related to the North Korean APT38 hacker group, which is linked to a series of significant exchange data breaches in 2023. The European Cybercrime Centre also dismantled a cybercrime group that created over 49 million fake online accounts using a large-scale SIM card farming infrastructure, including creating fraudulent profiles on Crypto Assets platforms.

Despite the increasing number of investigations worldwide, recent data shows that the industry's safety status is experiencing a short-term improvement. October 2025 is the safest month of the year for crypto assets platforms, with losses from hacker attacks amounting to only 18.18 million USD, a decrease of 85% compared to September. This improvement is partly attributed to exchanges strengthening their security measures and increased efforts from law enforcement.

Musk and Obama, as high-profile victims of this attack, remind everyone that even the most influential individuals can become targets of cybercrime. This incident has prompted Twitter (now X) to significantly improve its internal security protocols, including restricting employee access to management tools and implementing additional security layers such as multi-factor authentication.