Talk about a cash-out! One of the most valuable Bitcoin wallets in the world just vanished into thin air.
A billion…gone!
Whether it was the work of hackers or the owner coming back to claim their earnings is unclear, but we do know one thing – a Bitcoin wallet worth #69369.16716000 BTC or roughly $964,000,000 USD was emptied on Tuesday. The account was one of the most valuable Bitcoin wallets on the Internet.
RELATED STORIES
Bitcoin, the online cryptocurrency, has built up a cult-like following in the past decade. According to Vice , the account ” 1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx ,” has long been an object of speculation for cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Could it be hackers?
Anything with that amount of money is sure to draw quite the amount of attention, and this wallet was no exception. Recently, hackers had been trying to break into the wallet, trading information on online forums to try to crack into it. Whether or not they were successful remains unclear, but the account now sits empty.
Who would lose a password to a $1 billion bank account?
Since Bitcoin launched in 2009, many people have either lost passwords to their accounts, or lost the hard drives that contain their passwords. With over 54 million accounts in use, there are definitely quite a few who have lost access. So many in fact that an online forum, All Private Keys , has popped up as a result, allowing cybercriminals to purchase, download, and attempt to hack inactive Bitcoin wallets.
The rise of Bitcoin
When Bitcoin launched in 2009, it was worth a fraction of what it has become today. In fact, you could purchase a single Bitcoin for $0.0008. With that math, the emptied wallet would’ve been worth just over $55. Bitcoin started to rise exponentially the next year, rising to 8 cents per coin. Today, just 11 years after the cryptocurrency’s launch, Bitcoin is worth an estimated $14,947.10 per coin.
h/t: Vice
