Random murder case investigates financial flows! The killer had registered with a cryptocurrency exchange but no evidence of usage has been found.

The suspect Zhang from the Taipei MRT case has been unemployed for over a year, yet he was able to pay the market price of 90,000 yuan for a high-end gaming laptop with 48-digit encryption capabilities, rent in Taipei’s Daan District, and cover his criminal expenses. The police are also investigating the financial flows behind him. In addition to Zhang’s mother regularly remitting money, there was suspicion that Zhang, who has a background in computer science, was using a cold wallet. However, this possibility has been preliminarily ruled out recently.

However, through online verification, it was found that Zhang’s email address is forrestwork0141@gmail.com. Our report attempted to register on cryptocurrency exchanges using this email and discovered that he is registered on two compliant exchanges in Taiwan, but has not completed KYC, so platform features cannot be used. Currently, there is no evidence indicating that his financial flow involves cryptocurrency transfers.

Taipei Police: Preliminary ruling out the possibility of cold wallet involvement

According to reports, the Taipei MRT random murder case ( refuses to disclose information about him. For simplicity, Zhang is referred to as ). He has been unemployed since June last year, relying solely on his mother remitting NT$30,000 to NT$40,000 quarterly and a large transfer of NT$450,000 to support him. But after deducting the expensive rent in Taipei’s Daan District and the NT$90,000 gaming laptop, where did he get the money to buy the tools for the crime?

Since Zhang graduated with a degree in computer science, police initially focused on cold wallets. However, Taipei police recently stated that, based on current data, there is no evidence that Zhang has used virtual currencies or cold wallets. Nonetheless, all possibilities are being considered, and investigations will continue to expand.

Zhang’s laptop is encrypted with 48 digits, and brute-force cracking would take a century

It is reported that Zhang planned the crime using an ASUS ROG flagship gaming laptop, the Strix SCAR 18, released in 2023, with a market price of about NT$90,000. It uses BitLocker 48-digit encryption, which even the manufacturer cannot bypass. Brute-force cracking would take a hundred years to unlock.

Additionally, police found that when Zhang booked a hotel, his card was declined due to insufficient funds. However, a few days later, he suddenly had NT$3,985 in cash, allowing him to withdraw cash. The source of this deposit has become a key suspicious flow that police are actively investigating.

What is BitLocker?

BitLocker is a full disk encryption (FDE) technology built into Microsoft Windows, introduced starting with Windows Vista. Its purpose is to protect data on the hard drive from unauthorized access, even if the drive is removed, stolen, or the system is attacked offline.

Zhang registered on Taiwanese cryptocurrency exchanges but has no evidence of using them

Influencer Four叉貓 (Four Fork Cat) found Zhang’s email from his university project report: forrestwork0141@gmail.com.

Following this lead, it was discovered that forrestwork0141 and @forrest0141 also became Zhang’s online aliases, and his Twitter account can be traced. From December 2020 to January 2021, he posted 38 messages, all black images without any text, with a bizarre posting pattern that is quite creepy.

Trying to register on major exchanges with forrestwork0141@gmail.com can reveal whether an email has already been registered. Based on test results:

BitoEx Exchange: Registered

MAX Exchange: Registered, but online users found that Zhang seems to have not completed KYC, so he cannot use the platform.

Binance: Not registered

Bybit: Not registered

OKX: Not registered

Bitget: Not registered

BingX: Not registered

Investigation shows Zhang once registered on a compliant Taiwanese exchange, but there is no evidence that his funds were transferred via cryptocurrency. Whether it’s the Ko Wen-je case or this incident, when the flow of funds is a mystery, media often suspect cold wallets were used.

( What is a cold wallet? How does it work? The most comprehensive guide to cold wallets )

Typically, the logic behind cold wallet crimes is: Party A deposits cryptocurrency into a cold wallet, then provides the physical cold wallet and the private key ( seed phrase ) to Party B. When B needs to use the funds, they transfer the assets out using the private key. On-chain, it only records as an inflow and outflow, but in reality, the assets have already been transferred.

This article, “Random Murder Case: Tracking Funds! The Killer Registered Cryptocurrency Exchanges but No Evidence of Usage,” first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.