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Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

businessinsider.com

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Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#111

Post by gamblor956 »

eyezick wrote: post #92

This article is innaccurate. Here is the tracking by Ernst & Young (court-appointed) providing all the public information about these developments. The latest report on 1 March 2019 mentions nothing about a cracked laptop. https://documentcentre.eycan.com/Pages/Main.aspx?SID=1445

There's nothing wrong with the article. The March Report merely says they were able to recover the cold storage wallets and discovered they were empty; it doesn't go into how they got access to those wallets since that isn't relevant to the report.

Per the company and prior news reporting, those cold storage wallets discussed in the March Report were only stored on the owner's laptop, which was previously inaccessible due to various security mechanisms. (Reports suggested that the laptop was "locked" but did not indicate whether it was boot-locked or locked via the Windows mechanisms.) The fact that they were able to access those wallets means they "cracked" the security measures on that laptop.

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#112

Post by mrosett »

covercash wrote: post #32
whoisjuan wrote: post #16

This guy is alive (or dead, but not due to Crohn's Disease complications, as stated initially). This is not a conspiracy theory anymore. It's clear there's a massive fraud behind all these events.

As a mod for r/CrohnsDisease, it really sucks that this is how most people are first hearing about the disease. Those with IBD already have a difficult time with people not believing they’re sick or that symptoms aren’t that bad since they’re not visible. Now Crohn’s will be associated with this fool using it as an excuse to steal a bunch of money... such a huge disappointment.

> Those with IBD already have a difficult time with people not believing they’re sick or that symptoms aren’t that bad

That's surprising and sad to hear. I have a close friend with Crohn's who is always very stoic even when he's obviously feeling miserable. But I can't imagine people downplaying such a dreadful disease.

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#114

Post by Scoundreller »

tempestn wrote: post #109
deepsun wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it's not "stolen", it's "never existed".

The customer deposits certainly existed somewhere, even if a single cold wallet holding $137M in BTC didn't.

Though it is possible there are some withdrawals that weren’t backed by any deposits.

You don’t need to steal a wallet if you can update your account balance and then do formal withdrawals through the front-end.

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#115

Post by mrosett »

drexlspivey wrote: post #107
zaphirplane wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true, an entity with control of >50% of the pool can. I thought such a pool exists

Even with 100% of hashpower you can't steal anyone's money

You can just threaten to reverse any transaction they ever make.

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#116

Post by tim333 »

LeonM wrote: post #48

My take on this is that they probably were insolvent for a long time already due to previous hacks/theft. The CEO just decided to lie about the supposedly 137M in funds 'safely' stored on his laptop. This is also what happened at MtGox, except that at MtGox they 'lost' wel over a million BTC. Edit: relevant listening: https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/9/

Kraken had like a two hour podcast coming to much the same conclusion as the most probable explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB0OQae4fWo

It seems the problems may have started with a software screw up, leaving the "0x" off the ether address. https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/6ettq5/statement_...

which lost them I think 67,317 ETH permanently. Ah the wonders of cryptocurrency. https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/6er78h/warning_do...

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#117

Post by gumby »

tim333 wrote: post #102
uberman wrote: post #3

For some reason this sounds like the plot of a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. CEO of Crypto Company... 1) Takes time off to build orphanage in region noted for fake deaths. 2) Subsequently dies unexpectedly. 3) Is immediately cremated. 4) Wife waits a month before saying "oh by the way he is dead" 5) Wife claims all keys on encrypted laptop 6) World watches as wallets mysteriously empty 7) Experts crack laptop 8)…

And the widow is left with just the 17 properties, 2 cars, yacht and plane that he earned through honest hard work. Another thing you could work into the plot is $9m appears to be with WB21 "Banking Redefined" which claimed a million users but was discovered to only have 135 downloads of its app (now removed), is run by a convicted fraudster and was awarded "Global Banker Award 2018" in a black tie ceremony that they…

Or perhaps “widow”

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#118

Post by quickthrower2 »

jessaustin wrote: post #77
quickthrower2 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And making blockchain to SQL Server migration consultants wealthy too.

We would have believed postgres, but that's just far-fetched.

This is an enterprise solution. Oracle is even better.

Re: Experts cracked laptop of crypto CEO who died with $137M, but the money was gone

#119

Post by SpaceGorilla »

mrosett wrote: post #115
drexlspivey wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even with 100% of hashpower you can't steal anyone's money

You can just threaten to reverse any transaction they ever make.

I think double spend coins as well, but don't quote me.
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