Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blazek resigned due to a scandal involving the sale of $45 million worth of Bitcoin donated by a convicted criminal. The controversy arose when the ministry announced the auction of nearly 500 Bitcoin, raising 1 billion Czech koruna for justice system digitization and other projects. The donated cryptocurrency came from Tomas Jirikovsky, linked to the dark web platform Sheep Marketplace. Despite suspicions, Blazek accepted the donation without investigating its origins, leading to public outcry and a police investigation. Jirikovsky, convicted of various crimes, sought to reclaim 1,500 Bitcoin seized in 2017. Facing pressure, Prime Minister Petr Fiala distanced himself from Blazek, who resigned to avoid damaging the government's reputation. The incident highlights the need for due diligence in cryptocurrency transactions. Czechia recently enacted cryptocurrency legislation aligned with EU laws to provide regulatory clarity and support industry innovation. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news