🚨 How did one person get 50,000 $BTC thanks to a vulnerability?
In 2012, James Zhong took advantage of a flaw in the Silk Road marketplace’s withdrawal system.
🕵️ He made more than 140 transactions, exploiting the vulnerability to withdraw around 50,000 BTC.
💰 At the time, Bitcoin was worth about $12, putting the total value at $600,000.
But the most interesting part began years later…
In 2021, U.S. authorities discovered his cryptocurrency, worth more than $3.36 billion. Some of the BTC was stored in a popcorn tin! 🍿
⚖️ In 2023, James was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison.
Important: he exploited a vulnerability in Silk Road; he did not hack Bitcoin itself.
🤔 Imagine you had bought 50,000 BTC at $12 each. Would you have sold them earlier or held on until today?