Are they being charged for stealing? I thought the concept of crypto is to be you own bank, So as long as you have the private key, you are now technically the owner. What if two people generate the same private key. Who is the owner ?

They're charged with money laundering.

>25 years max for stealing billions?

1. The bitcoins were only worth ~$70 million at the time of theft. saying they stole "billions" is highly misleading

2. I don't get it, aren't we supposed to be getting less "tough on crime", especially for non-violent offenses?

1. Just quoting the amount mentioned in the press release. I guess its highly misleading too?

2. Supposed to be, but we all know that folks are sitting in jail right now for longer periods of time for stealing less.

>2. Supposed to be, but we all know that folks are sitting in jail right now for longer periods of time for stealing less.

Example?

The US sentencing guidelines[1] considers multiple factors other than "value stolen"

https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2021-guidelines-manual-annot...

can't say i've ever read the sentencing guidelines. you win.

It's not clear that this is the end of the charges.

I am just guessing here but it's likely that there are multiple counts of these charges.

they haven't actually been charged with hacking, just the laundering. the complaint could be amended after investigation and the potential sentence would go up.

Are you suggesting that's a light punishment?

Given that folks have been given longer punishments for stealing less, yes. Granted, ianal and I acknowledge that things come into play like repeat offenses, etc.

At the same time, though, folks get lighter sentences for rape and murder. IMO there's nothing 30,40,50+ years can do to a person that 25 can't.

touché

maybe 25 after a plea deal