How a Bitcointalk user lost 25,000 bitcoins in 2011
One of the darkest episodes in early Bitcoin history occurred on June 13, 2011, when a Bitcointalk forum user known as Allinvain lost 25,000 BTC — worth about $500,000 at the time and more than $2.2 billion by today’s prices. These funds were stolen in a single transaction and never returned.
Source Bitcointalk
The theft began after the attacker hacked the Slush Pool account and, without two-factor authentication, changed the payout address. The critical vulnerability was that the wallet.dat file was stored unencrypted on a Windows PC running software from various sources. The private keys were copied, enabling the attacker to quickly drain all the bitcoins. In total, 25,033 BTC were fragmented and moved, leaving only 0.004 BTC on the original address. The thief has never been identified.
This incident remains a grave warning to the crypto community about the crucial importance of security and safeguarding private keys. Such cases likely drive the development of stronger storage practices for crypto assets in the future.
