A drug dealer was thought to have owned between £70,000 and £80,0000-worth of Bitcoin – until investigators realised the decimal point was in the wrong place and the man's crypto-currency stash was worth few pounds.

Josh Alexander, 32, was jailed for six years last May for various offences including possession with intent to supply drugs and being concerned in their supply.

Prosecutors launched proceeds of crime proceedings in the hope of clawing back some of his ill-gotten gains.

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At a hearing before Judge Maria Lamb at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, prosecutor Christopher Pembridge said that it was initially thought Alexander had access to 2.35 Bitcoin.

At current exchange rates, his  crypto-currency would have been worth between £70,000 and £80,000.

“Upon a review of that, it is in fact the case the spreadsheet had been incorrectly analysed and it is 0.000235 Bitcoin,” he said. That would make it worth a nominal figure of a few pounds.

“The Crown are not going to proceed with that. It would be unnecessary.”

There was broad agreement between prosecution and defence that the ‘benefit’ gained by Alexander was a little over £4,000 – the value of the drugs.

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The ‘available amount’ that could be confiscated was said to be the £730  cash already in the hands of the police.

However, the judge was asked to delay making any confiscation order - which would permanently hand the cash over to the police - until Alexander’s lawyer, Adam Williams, could take instructions from his client.

The defendant, formerly of Queens Street Mews, Henley, is expected to be brought from prison in person for the next hearing on Friday, April 29. 

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