In the early years of the emergence of $BTC , trust in centralized platforms was very high, most notably the Japanese platform Mt. Gox, which quickly became the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world. Millions of users from different countries placed their money in it without imagining that the real danger was not in the currency itself, but in the entity that holds it.
Behind the scenes, there was a deep flaw in the security and management systems. The private keys were not secured adequately, and there was no real oversight on wallet movements. A clever hacker exploited this vulnerability and was able to access the platform's hot wallets without raising any suspicion at first.
Instead of stealing everything at once, the hacker followed a patient approach. He withdrew small amounts of Bitcoin at spaced intervals, making the losses appear as technical errors or ordinary system problems. Over time, the thefts accumulated until they reached an astronomical figure without anyone noticing.
In 2014, everything suddenly collapsed. The platform announced the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins, ceased operations, and users' accounts were frozen. The shock was global, and people discovered that their savings, which they thought were safe, had evaporated in silence.
After investigations, it became clear that the disaster was not only due to the hacker's strength, but also due to negligence, mismanagement, and blind trust in a single platform. The story turned into one of the biggest scandals in the history of digital currencies, and a harsh lesson for anyone entering this world.
Since that day, this incident has remained a constant reminder that Bitcoin is not stolen from the blockchain, but is stolen when its keys are handed over to someone who cannot protect them.
