Australian woman jailed for stealing more than 100,000 XRP during its market peak in 2018

A 25-year-old Australian woman has been sentenced to two years and three months in jail for stealing over 100,000 XRP when the crypto asset was at an all-time high.

Information Age reported the news on Tuesday, saying that the woman, Kathryn Nguyen, hacked into a crypto account of a 56-year-old man via a SIM-swap attack in January 2018. At the time, the stolen XRP was worth over $400,000. Today, it is only worth about $30,000.

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Australian authorities began their investigation into the case almost a year ago. At the time, they also seized computers, phones and money from Nguyen’s home in Epping, a suburb of Sydney.

Nguyen is reportedly the first Australian to be charged over the theft of cryptocurrency.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.