Man Tries to Buy Chemical Weapon With Bitcoin
A Missouri man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after trying to buy deadly chemical weapons from the dark web using Bitcoin.
Jason William Sizer, a Missouri man, tried to buy a dangerous chemical weapon on the dark web using Bitcoin. He told the potential seller that he intended to use it soon, killing up to 300 people in the process.
Another dark web purchase via Bitcoin
A recent example of using the flagship cryptocurrency as a payment option comes from the U.S., where a man tried to buy a deadly chemical weapon on the dark web.
According to federal authorities, 46-year-old Jason Sizer attempted to purchase the dangerous item twice in the summer of 2018. He gave the seller a shipping address in the name of a minor, the Justice Department said.
On July 4th of the same year, Sizer ordered two 10 milliliter units of the chemicals and paid with Bitcoin. The investigation revealed that after the units were not shipped, Jason contacted the seller, revealing his terrible intentions.
The following month, Sizer ordered three 10-milliliter doses of the deadly chemicals and paid again with the same cryptocurrency. The purchase was for $150, and by some estimates he could have succeeded in killing 300 people if he had used it successfully.
The reason behind the purchase
The investigation revealed that Sizer was suffering from severe anger and hatred due to a recent breakup.
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Fortunately, law enforcement officers were able to track down Jason and soil his plans. A controlled delivery package containing an inert substance was sent to his home on August 23, 2018.
“Sizer believed the package contained the chemical weapon he had ordered, signed for the package, and took it to the residence,” according to the Department of Justice.
During the search of Sizer’s home, officers also found other toxic elements such as cardium arsenide, cadmium metal and a significant amount of hydrochloric acid.
Jason Sizer received 12 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
