2025 Czech government Bitcoin scandal
A political-corruption scandal in which the Czech Ministry of Justice, under minister Pavel Blažek, accepted a donation of 468 bitcoin (~$45M) in early 2025 from Tomáš Jiříkovský, a convicted darknet/drug figure, then sold part of it. After Deník N revealed the deal in May 2025, Blažek resigned, a criminal money-laundering investigation followed, and the government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote.
Also known as: 2025 Czech government Bitcoin scandal, Czech Bitcoin scandal, Czech justice ministry bitcoin donation, Investigation of 2025 Czech government Bitcoin scandal
Summary
In March 2025 the Czech Ministry of Justice accepted a donation of 468 bitcoin — worth roughly $45 million — from Tomáš Jiříkovský, previously convicted in connection with a darknet marketplace and related offenses. He reportedly offered the ministry a share of the wallet in exchange for help accessing seized coins, and then-minister Pavel Blažek agreed; the ministry sold part of the bitcoin via auction. The arrangement was revealed by the news outlet Deník N in late May 2025. [1][3]
Fallout and investigation
Blažek resigned in May 2025, denying any illegal conduct but stepping down to limit damage to the government. The affair prompted a criminal investigation focused on suspected money laundering, raids by the National Centre for Combating Organised Crime, and the detention of Jiříkovský with asset seizures. The opposition forced a no-confidence vote, which the government of PM Petr Fiala narrowly survived; a parliamentary inquiry ("Investigation of the 2025 Czech government Bitcoin scandal") examined the ministry's handling of the funds. Matters under investigation are allegations. [1][2][3]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (3)
See also
AmanKesar11 Frozen Bitcoin CaseOtherIn June 2026, blockchain investigator reports highlighted a case involving approximately 5.73 BTC (worth roughly $475,000 at the time of freezing) that had been frozen by cryptocurrency exchange Changelly in March 2025. The individual associated with the funds, using the online alias AmanKesar11, reportedly contacted investigators seeking assistance in recovering the frozen assets. During discussions, multiple and conflicting explanations were provided regarding the origin of the funds.
Gala Games exploitTokensOn May 20, 2024 an attacker abused a privileged minter account on the GALA token contract to mint 5 billion GALA (≈$200M+ nominal) and dumped ~600M of them for ~$22M of ETH before Gala froze the address. Gala Games called it an internal access-control failure; the attacker later returned the ~$22M.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
