Bitcoin [BTC] now accepted for bail at Federal Court

According to a report in a local newspaper [California], Daily Post published on 15th August, a 25-year-old Serbian-Italian national Martin Marsich was asked to pay for his bail in Bitcoin [BTC] or any other cryptocurrencies, at the San Francisco Federal Court, after being arrested for hacking a video game company.

Marsich was arrested on the 8th August for hacking the Redwood City video game company, Electronic Arts in San Fransisco [SFO], California. On the next day of his arrest [August 9th], he was brought to the Federal Court in San Fransisco to schedule future dates for further hearings.

He is believed to have gained access to 25,000 accounts of customers who buy items at the store for use in video games. According to the complaint, Marsich has been accused of intentionally hacking a personal network in order to gain information and also using it for his private financial gain.

If Marsich was proven guilty he could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus compensation, if it was found appropriate, for each of his violations.

At the hearing, the Federal Judge Jacqueline Corley ordered Marsich to pay $750,000 in BTC or any other cryptocurrency to be released to a halfway house.

The United States, Assistant District Attorney, Abraham Simmons poses his opinion on the above scenario. Simmons believed that it was the first time ever a Federal Court has asked the accused to pay in digital currency in anticipation of bail.

According to Simmons, the judges are allowed to order many kinds of bails, including asking for real estate owned by somebody else. The options are “really quite broad” he says.

Moreover, Simmons explained that the motive behind these kinds of bails is to convince the defendants to appear for another hearing at a later date.

Additionally, in this particular case, if the value of the token was to fluctuate, he was “certain” that either party could file a motion to change the bail amount, Simmons said.

He also said:

“The idea is to get him to court, not necessarily to maintain the value of any particular asset, I would imagine that either side would alert the court of an extreme change in the value of the asset, but it doesn’t mean that the court would care one way or the other.”

The local courts however thought differently than the Federal Court.

San Mateo County District Attorney, Steve Wagstaffe stated that he had never heard of such a case where anyone was bailed out of jail with cryptocurrency as a form of payment. He humorously said:

“It’s a new world. I love the new world.”

Wagstaffe also stated that the particular scenario would not work at the San Mateo County Superior Court.