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1/ I was just reading about the latest crypto exchange scam and thought I would do a little thread on the history of crypto exchanges. https://twitter.com/WallStCynic/status/1200477780196151296
2/ Mt. Gox, which started as a website to exchange "Magic, the Gathering" playing cards became the first major exchange online to buy and sell crypto.
It was hacked in 2011 and the price of bitcoins crashed from about $17 to pennies. https://venturebeat.com/2011/06/19/popular-bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-hacked-prices-drop-to-pennies/
It was hacked in 2011 and the price of bitcoins crashed from about $17 to pennies. https://venturebeat.com/2011/06/19/popular-bitcoin-exchange-mt-gox-hacked-prices-drop-to-pennies/
3/ Also in 2011 Bitcoin7 was hacked and tens of thousands of dollars in bitcoin were stolen. https://siliconangle.com/2011/10/07/bitcoin7-hacked-funds-recovery-requires-sensitive-personal-information/
4/ Still in 2011, MyBitcoin, a hosted wallet service (not an exchange) stole over a million dollars in Bitcoin, including 49 of my own bitcoins. https://cryptocrooks.com/biggest-bitcoin-theft/
5/ 2011 was early in Bitcoin's history. Did this "secure currency" get any safer for crypto users in 2012?
No.
Over 40,000 bitcoin were stolen from Bitcoinica in March of 2012. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/03/bitcoins-worth-228000-stolen-from-customers-of-hacked-webhost/
No.
Over 40,000 bitcoin were stolen from Bitcoinica in March of 2012. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/03/bitcoins-worth-228000-stolen-from-customers-of-hacked-webhost/
6/ The same exchange was hacked again 2 months later. https://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2012/05/bitcoins-worth-87000-plundered/
7/ Two more months and ... Bitcoinica was hacked again, this time for $300,000 worth of $btc.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=95738.msg1055046#msg1055046
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=95738.msg1055046#msg1055046
8/ In the Fall of 2012 a quarter million dollars in bitcoin was stolen from Bitfloor. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitfloor-hacked-250000-missing-1346821046/#sources
9/ Turn the clock to 2013 and let's see what the crypto community has learned. Has crypto become any safer for your average user? Is it safer than Fiat?
Vircurex was hacked in 2013 but the disclosure didn't
occur until a year later. https://www.coindesk.com/exchange-vircurex-freezes-withdrawals-claims-lack-reserves
Vircurex was hacked in 2013 but the disclosure didn't
occur until a year later. https://www.coindesk.com/exchange-vircurex-freezes-withdrawals-claims-lack-reserves
10/ PicoStocks was hacked due to poor passwords. Another six figures in bitcoin stolen.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=133147.55
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=133147.55
11/ Same company, PicoStocks, hacked again in November. This time for 3 million in bitcoin. https://www.wired.com/2017/05/one-scrappy-startup-survived-early-bitcoin-wars/
12/ 2014. Have things gotten any safer for Bitcoin holders?
In February the largest exchange, Mt Gox, was hacked again. This time the loss was in the hundreds of millions dollars. People are still trying to get (some of) their money back today. https://www.wired.com/2014/03/bitcoin-exchange/
In February the largest exchange, Mt Gox, was hacked again. This time the loss was in the hundreds of millions dollars. People are still trying to get (some of) their money back today. https://www.wired.com/2014/03/bitcoin-exchange/
13/ Smaller exchanges got hacked and robbed (or were simply scams) for the entire rest of 2014.
Cryptorush. https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptorush_s_plan_to_escape_a_mt_gox_fate
Cryptorush. https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptorush_s_plan_to_escape_a_mt_gox_fate
16/ Cryptsy.
(This one was millions of dollars.) https://www.coindesk.com/cryptsy-bankruptcy-millions-bitcoin-stolen/
(This one was millions of dollars.) https://www.coindesk.com/cryptsy-bankruptcy-millions-bitcoin-stolen/
19/ KipCoin. https://www.newsbtc.com/2015/02/19/chinese-bitcoin-exchange-kipcoin-shuts-claims-losing-3000-btc-hackers/
20/ To close out the year, in December, BitPay was hacked for almost $2M in bitcoin. https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitpay-hacked-for-over-18-million-in-bitcoins
21/ Turning the clock to 2015. Are the crypto scams and hacks still going on with all the major players?
Yes.
796Exchange https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitpay-hacked-for-over-18-million-in-bitcoins
Yes.
796Exchange https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitpay-hacked-for-over-18-million-in-bitcoins
22/ Bitstamp for $5M. https://www.coindesk.com/unconfirmed-report-5-million-bitstamp-bitcoin-exchange/
23/ Bter still isn't any better. https://www.coindesk.com/bter-bitcoin-stolen-cold-wallet-hack/
24/ I am now skipping smaller hacks/scams because the list would be too long. Let's turn the page to 2016.
$77M stolen from Bitfinex. https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-bitcoin-hack-know-dont-know/
$77M stolen from Bitfinex. https://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-bitcoin-hack-know-dont-know/
25/ Bitcurex in Poland.
(to be continued with 2017 through today in a few minutes.) https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-polish-law-enforcement-investigating-bitcurex-exchange-shutdown/
(to be continued with 2017 through today in a few minutes.) https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-polish-law-enforcement-investigating-bitcurex-exchange-shutdown/
26/ Another year, another pile of crypto scams and hacks.
Bithumb for a million bucks. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40506609
Bithumb for a million bucks. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-40506609
27/ YouBit, twice. First for $5M, the for much more. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/19/yapian-youbit-exchange-files-bankruptcy.html
28/ 2018 was a big year for crypto thefts. In the billions. By my back of the envelope math, around 2% of all bitcoins in existence were stolen in 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/1-point-1b-in-cryptocurrency-was-stolen-this-year-and-it-was-easy-to-do.html
29/ Let's just walk through a few of these.
CoinDesk was a half billion. http://fortune.com/2018/01/31/coincheck-hack-how/
CoinDesk was a half billion. http://fortune.com/2018/01/31/coincheck-hack-how/
30/ BitGrail was about $200M. https://cointelegraph.com/news/its-impossible-to-refund-the-stolen-amount-interview-with-bitgrails-francesco-firano
31/ Bitcoin Gold is a crypto currency, not an exchange. But it turns out that 51% attacks work against crypto currencies. Your money can get stolen even if it isn't an exchange.
https://ciphertrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/crypto_aml_report_2018q3.pdf
https://ciphertrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/crypto_aml_report_2018q3.pdf
32/ The crypto hacks continued throughout the year.
Feel free to google Taylor, Coinrail, Geth, Bancor, and Zaif for more details.
Feel free to google Taylor, Coinrail, Geth, Bancor, and Zaif for more details.
33/ I'm not going to keep going, and I haven't included any ransomware or similar scams but the hacks and scams have continued throughout this year.
Crypto has not been safe for the average investor and likely never will be.
Crypto has not been safe for the average investor and likely never will be.
