Public auctions are one way that this chain is broken. Must have been from the old days when movement of objects was more difficult, but something put up for a public auction can be inspected and claimed by someone as stolen, but afterwords people get to keep what they bought. Thus auctions for lost luggage, police stuff, car auctions, etc.
Also there is a special rule for cash. Stolen cash is not treated this way, so if a bank is robbed and has all the serial numbers, they can't take the money from you if you happen to get one of the bills in a transaction.
Curious if this approach was tried on behalf of those who lost BTC at Mt Gox -- could other BTC holders have their holdings taken away if it originated from the Mt Gox theft (or other theft.)
BTC was 'found' by Mark Karples (~200k). When the price increased, the custodian started selling it to lock in enough money to pay off the creditors [0]. Now the question is how to do the payouts due to the way Japanese law works [1].
Also there is a special rule for cash. Stolen cash is not treated this way, so if a bank is robbed and has all the serial numbers, they can't take the money from you if you happen to get one of the bills in a transaction.