Shocking Bitcoin Stories

BITCOIN’S BIGGEST HEIST WAS OF 800,000 BITCOINS

bitcoin mtgox heist

Mt. Gox was the world’s largest bitcoin exchange when the biggest bitcoin heist in history took place. Allegedly, a hacker stole roughly 800,000 bitcoins from the exchange, the equivalent of $400,000 at the time, enough to bring the exchange to it’s knees, forcing it to declare bankruptcy. Today, the same 800,000 bitcoins would be worth over $880 million.

Mt. Gox’s CEO, Mark Karpeles, had a reaction to the high-profile heist that seemed, to some, incredibly calm and vague:

We had weaknesses in our system, and our bitcoins vanished. We’ve caused trouble and inconvenience to many people, and I feel deeply sorry for what has happened.”

The investigation led by law enforcement panned out due to the lack of evidence, but Mark Karpeles, was charged with embezzlement.