More than $1 million in virtual currency steal from a bitcoin website. The owner of this website is a young Australian entrepreneur who is leaving his identity unidentified.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that uses as a means of payment for goods and services using the internet. On the other hand, since its transactions are computer-to-computer, they have no central authority or government-based backing. Because of that, the alleged theft considers being one of the largest cases in the currency’s four-year history. This plight aggravates questions about digital money, one of which is whether this type of currency can ever regulate.
A bitcoin user with the pseudonym TradeFortress claimed that he robbed of his website. He sighted the value as more than 4,100 bitcoins, equivalent to $1.1 million. Things get more complicated when those bitcoins that stole from his website are not his. It owns by numerous users who entrusted their bitcoins to him.
Bitcoin transactions knew to be irreversible. TradeFortress and the other users are aware of these consequences. The owner of the website wished to not identify, claiming that he is underage and is afraid for his personal safety.
Some speculated that TradeFortress himself took the coins based on the reason that bitcoin transaction trails are anonymous.
TradeFortress asked by the ABC’s AM regarding the speculation, but he strongly stands by the fact that it robs. He also added that regardless of his loss, which is $1 million, reporting it to the authorities is unlikely to happen. He believes that when it comes to bitcoin, the users are the only ones who can access the information. Involving the authorities in this crime is useless.
An Australian Federal Police spokesman stated that, according to his knowledge, there is no existing report of bitcoin theft. That is why it never investigates at either the federal or state level. But he revoked that if it reports, it would still investigate like any other theft.
Policy and Regulation Concerns
Stilgherrian, a technological pundit, said that tracing bitcoin should be the priority, not theft. This case is in contrast to stocks and bonds.
Regulation, enforcement, and even taxation of bitcoin were major concerns, he added.
He commented that, once a user acquires bitcoin, it is almost impossible to tell where they got it from. That’s why money laundering attracts this circumstance. Some of the most famous bank robberies in history involved a million dollars worth of bitcoin.
As of this writing, each bitcoin has a value of $275. In contrast to the start of this year, they are only worth $30 each.
The volatile increase in bitcoin’s value is making the currency have a high profile. However, Sthilgarian cautioned that the higher the value, the greater the likelihood of attracting more criminals.
Banks are where the money is, making robbers attracted to them. Having a bitcoin wallet that is just a digital file on a computer can be just as attractive to criminals, he added.
